Never Let Go
by Jadet
Summary: 5 years after the death of his wife, Heero is forced to face something that has made the last 5 years a living hell. Lets just say the dead do rise, some jokes are too cruel for their own good, and evil comes in all shapes and professions. Ch. 7 now up!
1. Cruel joke?

Disclaimers: Do I own Gundam Wing? Me? Me who never even has two pennies to rub together?? LET. ME. THINK. ::giggles:: I wish but no, so don't sue me. I am only using these characters for entertainment purposes only. Joy is mine tho (no not the feeling, the secretary!)  
  
Authors Notes: OH MY GOSH!! This is one *weird* idea that has worked its way into my head!! Don't even try to figure out how this is all going to end, cause I don't even know myself! It just popped into my head while I was baby-sitting two screaming children, watching Toy Story 2 for the millionth time, and listening to my new CD. Weird how idea's come to you these days huh? But I do know that it won't be THAT long, 4 to 6 chapters most. But hopefully it'll have enough action, sappy romance, and Heero kicking bad-guy ass that it will please everyone. Okay?? Okay. Other than letting you know this will be one weird story, nothing else ya need to know. Oh and please don't forget to review k?? Thanks!! ^.~  
  
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Never Let Go: Chapter One  
By Jadet  
Copyright 00' by Jadet  
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A short blond haired lady sat pensively at her desk, glancing nervously at the clock every few minutes while tapping her inch long red nails on the desktop. [One minute to go...] She thought, glancing once again at the elevator and pushing her wire rimmed glasses back up her nose. For all three years she had worked for her boss, he had never been late once. The guy was punctual to a fault, and as grouchy as they come unfortunately. [And today would probably be no different] She thought with a sigh.   
  
An elevator bell tolled it's level and the young woman steeled herself for another day working for him.  
  
[Too bad his vacation couldn't last longer] she thought wryly, plastering a smile on her face as her boss exited the elevator then, a cold glare already on his face.  
  
"Good Morning Colonel Yuy, did you have a nice vacation?"  
  
"No."  
  
Heero glared at his secretary, smirking inwardly when she flinched and stepped onto the landing. The elevator closed quietly behind him, and he breathed a silent sigh of relief to be back. He should have never have listened to Duo, the only place where he could forget and be truely comfortable was here. Where the work piled so high he didn't have a chance to think. Five years ago he would have hated the schedule, now he relished it. If he didn't have time to think, he didn't have to feel. And that in itself was perfect.  
  
Giving a slight nod to the still trembling young woman, Heero walked past her into his office and shut the door behind him. He didn't, however, miss the sigh of relief from his secretary from behind the closed door. A smirk found it's place on his face and Heero once again relished the thought of mountains of work. And _lots_ of quiet! As much as he enjoyed staying with the Maxwell's and their three children for Christmas (by the way: ugh!), the ability to hear himself appealed much more.  
  
Rolling his shoulders, Heero hefted his briefcase onto his desk, mentally running over the day's schedule, ignoring the calendar on his desk. He found he could remember much better on his own. Satisfied that he would be swamped with all the work he missed, Heero opened the briefcase and pulled a few papers out, stacking them neatly on his desk.   
  
Subconsciously he wondered why he was in such a rush to find some work to do. Usually he wasn't _this_ desperate, just anxious to get to work, to forget the world around him. But never this desperate.  
  
His eye caught the calendar then and the day that it was today washed over Heero like a tidal wave, pain flaring and constricting his heart. Now he knew the reason why he was so desperate to find work to dive into.   
  
Sitting stiffly in his chair, he reached into his bottom drawer and pulled out an old rusty frame, caressing the person in the picture lightly.  
  
[Five years today] Heero mused, resting a single finger on the cheek of the woman. Her laughing sea blue eyes danced back at him from the frame, her smile sending a shiver of warmth up his spine still, even through a photograph. Next to her stood a younger version of himself, a rare smile on his face, his arm curled possessively around her waist. Behind them snow fell lightly and their breaths steamed from beneath layers of wool hats. They looked happy. And content.  
  
It had been taken only a week before... before... before it happened. And even now, five years later, Heero still cursed himself. He should have been there, if he had been and hadn't rushed away to complete a mission Une had wanted him and Duo to do personally, she would have been fine! And he wouldn't be alone.  
  
A tentative knock sounded on his door, interrupting his train of thought and Heero looked up to see his secretary peeking out, a handful of yellow note pad papers in her hands.  
  
"Sir, shall I give you your messages now or later?"  
  
Shoving the picture back into it's drawer, Heero took a deep breath and tried to calm his painfully beating heart. Shit, it just had to be the day he got back didn't it?  
  
Heero replaced his mask and felt the usual calm it brought seep into him. Satisfied he could control himself he waved her in, grabbing some papers to start looking over. He could think about this tonight, when no one could see him or bother him.  
  
"Start." Heero commanded gruffly, not really paying attention as she began to rattle off all his messages he had missed.  
  
"Commander Une also called this morning to tell you the briefing has been moved up to tomorrow at 11 a.m., as well as Colonel Maxwell and a strange woman."  
  
Heero shrugged. He was used to Une moving up dates so it didn't matter, he was always prepared ahead of time. And he knew what Duo wanted. He would invite him to come out and have a drink with the others tonight as was the tradition for today. Heero would of course decline like he always did, and go home to deal with it alone. He had done it every year and would continue to do so. This was something that was too close, too personal to him, and it made him uncomfortable to have them all hovering over him. He especially had to upgrade his mask and act in front of them, they knew him well enough to see through his normal one. And he did not feel like doing that tonight, especially tonight.  
  
Not even bothering to look up at his now fidgeting secretary, Heero nodded. "Who was the strange woman? Did she leave a name?"  
  
Heero heard Joy, at least that's what he thought her name was, shuffle through the papers she held in her hands till she came to the right one. "Yes she did. Said her name was... ummmm ah here it is. She said her name was Relena Yuy. She also said she would call back for you later." Joy jumped back when Heero let out a roar of outrage and slammed his hands onto the desk.  
  
"Who?!"  
  
"Relena Yuy... sir," Joy stuttered, watching with horrid fascination as her boss's face, for the first time she had known him, drain of all color. His mouth opened and closed for a few minutes and Joy was surprised when Heero whispered instead of barked, yelled, or growled.  
  
"Relena... Yuy...."  
  
Joy nodded, backing up a step. "Yes sir, is that a problem?"  
  
Heero began shaking his head, softly at first but then violently, his nails digging into the tender flesh of his palm and drawing blood, staining the papers he had just been looking over a permanent crimson.  
  
"Sir, are you all right?" Joy asked hesitantly, not sure whether she should try to help him or call Colonel Maxwell in. He seemed to know how to handle his friend, both when he was angry and when he was normal. She wasn't sure though which her boss was at the moment though. If she hadn't known any better it would seem he was, well _sad_ and maybe even _terrified_.  
  
Heero tried to calm himself down, torn between the anger of having someone playing games with him and using her name, and what could only be called extreme pain. The anger was normal, he felt anger all the time and was very adept at smothering it. He could control anger. The pain however, even if he had experienced it for the last five years, still came as quite a shock. He really hadn't meant for her to become so important, for him to become so attached. He had tried everything he knew during the Eve Wars to pull away, even watching her from a distance but not touching, trying to appease the burning yearning growing inside of him. But it all had failed, she had captured his heart totally and when she went away, so did it. That had hurt enough. Now though someone had found it and was twisting it for all it was worth, getting every last drop out of it.   
  
A burning cold anger flooded through his veins and Heero found the strength to stop shaking his head and look at his secretary who was looking extremely nervous. Taking a deep breath, Heero forced himself straighten and crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
[I'm going to kill whoever is toying with me] Heero thought but instead asked, "Did she say anything else?"  
  
Joy obviously didn't want to answer but nodded, clutching the paper tightly between her hands. "Yes, she said to tell you 'I love you'." Taking a shuddering breath, for seeing someone as emotionless as her boss shake like that had unnerved her, but she forced herself to ask a question that she knew she shouldn't. "Someone you know sir? A sister perhaps?"  
  
Heero couldn't help the dry laugh that worked it's way from the pit of his stomach. It obviously scared Joy for she began to shake herself and look towards the door with a terrified, hopeful glance. That only made Heero laugh harder and it took him a minute to calm down enough to force a cold smirk. Inside his heart beat painfully but Heero squashed it.  
  
"My sister? No I don't have any family."  
  
Joy forced a shaky smile. "Then do you know anyone by that name?"  
  
Heero's eyes went frigid but his smirk stayed in place. "Yeah."  
  
"Who... who then, may I ask?" Joy was really scared now, she had never seen a look like that in anyone's eyes before. A look that could belong to a lion about to spring on a defenseless gazelle and tear it to shreds. A look that should never be on a human face she decided.  
  
Heero shrugged but the frigid look never faltered.  
  
"My dead wife."  
  
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End of Chapter One  
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Notes: I'm so mean... leaving you all with a cliff hanger like that. ^_^ Tee hee, guess you'll have to review to make me write more huh?? ::sees everyone looking at her weird:: What?! Yes I am in a good mood, but no I am not on anything. Who wouldn't be in a good mood getting away from two little cute but annoying brats?? Anyone?? Didn't think so. I should get the next chapter out soon, the juices are flowin and my fingers are sore but still able to type. So jya!! ^.~  
  
Ps. Hmmmm wonder who that woman leaving the message was.... bwahahahahaha!!! ;P  
  



	2. His wife is back.

Disclaimers: These things really suck don't they?? I hate having to write them. Oh well, I do not own Gundam Wing or any of it's characters, they belong to whoever the heck made them. I just use them to entertain us. ::laughs:: Dance lil Heero-chan Dance!! ;D  
  
Authors Notes: Hey! Everyone liked it!! Thank you to all of you who reviewed, it really meant alot to me and most likely made me write this chapter faster than I had intentionally planned! Nothing new to report except I now have a glimmer on how this stupid IS going to end. It's kinda weird but it'll be sweet. Please enjoy and remember to review!! ^.~  
  
PS: Oh and during the driving scene Heero is driving in Japan and therefore, at least I think, they drive on the opposite side of the car and opposite side of the road. So when I say he turns right he's on the left side of the road driving down it. If I am wrong on their driving system forgive me, tell me and I will fix it. Thanks!  
  
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Never Let Go: Chapter Two  
By Jadet  
Copyright 00' by Jadet  
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"Damn that caller!"  
  
Heero growled and rubbed his temples for what seemed the hundredth time, squinting to see the road as he drove home. Because of that caller he couldn't concentrate for the rest of the day, even having to ask Joy to cancel a lunch with Duo because he couldn't think of anything else but that message. And because of that stupid pranker he had the worst headache imaginable, which was saying alot. He knew he had an incredible tolerance for pain, even going as far as to set his own broken bones a few times, therefore he barely ever acknowledged it let alone complained of it. But this headache made him want to grab his revolver from the glove department and shoot everyone else on the road.   
  
Especially the idiot in front of him.  
  
Muttering a few choice curses, Heero checked behind him for cars. Seeing none, he smiled grimly and pushed his foot on the gas. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, besides being against the law this was only a two lane road, each one going opposite from the other. The chances of another car coming his direction in the blind spot to the right of the truck in front of him were extremely high, as well as the chance of him running head long into it. But he seriously did not care. He was annoyed, furious at an unknown prank caller, and not willing to go 35 in a 55 limit. And tonight was just NOT the night to be putting up with all of this.  
  
Getting right behind the truck in front of him, Heero jerked the steering wheel and swerved into the opposite lane, stepping on the gas even more. Almost immediately Heero spied the oncoming cars, golden orbs bobbing through the blackness towards him. Several honks from them issued as they got about ten feet away but Heero ignored them, concentrating on pulling ahead of the truck. It didn't take that long going about 70 and Heero swerved back into the left lane in front of the truck, a smile of pure satisfaction on his face. In his review mirror he saw the truck driver shaking a fist as he pulled away and Heero let out a dry laugh.  
  
It felt so good to be able to get out some of his frustration. Even though it wasn't that much since that wasn't a challenge at all, it was still some. And even though as a Gundam pilot he and the others had faced tighter and much more dangerous situations and what he just did didn't amount to anything, it still felt good!  
  
Not even bothering to reply to some more rude gestures from the motorists he just terrified, Heero set his mouth in a firm line and sped away. He reached his home, a medium sized cottage at the edge of a lake, a short time later. Snow creaked under his tire when he stopped and Heero couldn't help but relax when he looked at the house.  
  
They had bought it right after they had been married, roof leaks, eight foot snow and all. The cottage was the only part of their lives that was secluded and private, and only theirs, the nearest neighbor being ten miles away. It had been perfect. Still was for that matter just quieter, more lonely, but still perfect to him. Even after her death he still lived here, preferring to deal with the memories than run away. He had ran away too much in the past, he wasn't going to repeat the same mistakes. Besides that, she was here under the oak tree they had spent so many lazy summer afternoons. He wasn't about to leave her, not now, not ever. He owed her that much at least.  
  
Heero's eyes hardened then when he noticed hour old foot prints leading up to his house and growled low in his throat. No one should have been up here, this was private property and he was the only one to use this house. That being the case it meant someone was either being extremely stupid and trying to break in and steal everything, or more likely an unwelcome visitor, meaning Zechs again.  
  
"Guess I do get to use my gun," Heero muttered angrily, leaving everything else in the car and taking his gun. Clicking the safety off, Heero quietly walked up his walkway to the door. His gun in his right hand, Heero twisted the knob with his left, narrowing his eyes when it turned easily under his hand. Zechs usually didn't leave the door unlocked when he came to visit Relena, him being as paranoid as Heero. Still no one was stupid enough to try and rob him right? How could they have found it anyway? He had purposely chosen in because it was nestled between two mountains, a lake to the left and forest to the right.   
  
Swinging the door open, Heero peered into the darkness, both hands on his gun. Not seeing anyone in the family room to the right nor the living room to the left, he slinked through the door and shut it quietly behind him. No odd sounds penetrated his hearing and Heero began to feel his age old friend, unease, come back. Now he knew it wasn't Zechs, not that Zechs made much noise or left messes, it just didn't *feel* right to him. And he never ignored his instincts before.  
  
Heero quickly looked into the kitchen and the downstairs bathroom, feeling more uneasy as he went from room to room. Nothing was out of place, nothing missing. What kind of thief didn't steal or even _touch_ anything?   
  
A soft sound finally came from upstairs and Heero swiveled on his heel and bounded out of the room he was checking and up the stairs, still not making any noise. The sound came again, and Heero turned to find himself staring at the door to his room. Again the sound came again but now Heero recognized it. It was so soft that when he was downstairs it didn't sound like anything but a weird noise, now he knew what it was. The person was sneezing.  
  
Heero narrowed his eyes dangerously and shifted his gun from his left hand to his right so that he could open the door. It opened easily and Heero slipped in, careful to stay in the shadows. Right in front of him was his bed, moonlight shining down onto the sheets from the crescent window above the bed. Again nothing looked out of place except that there was someone sprawled out on his bed, face pressed into his pillow. The figure was wearing heavy pants and a jacket, golden hair fanned around the head. From that and by the thinness and shape of the body Heero knew it was a woman. In one of her hands she clutched a raggedy looking teddy bear tightly as if afraid to let go.  
  
Heero felt himself tense up and a strangled sound erupted from his lips. That was his wife's teddy bear, the one he gave her when they were 15. She had loved the dumb thing with a passion and kept it on her dresser for whenever she needed comfort he couldn't or didn't know how to give. It was hers and Heero hadn't touched it since the day she had died. Now some damn woman was clinging to it! Hot white anger coursed through his body, and not bothering to check the rest of the room Heero stalked up and ripped the bear from the woman's grasp, holding it tightly to his chest. A momentary calm spread over him that didn't stop him from pointing the gun at the waking figure, but definitely stopped him from shooting her on the spot.  
  
"Wha..." The woman moaned, rolling onto her back and slinging an arm over her eyes. Heero watched with masked smugness when the woman realized what had woken her up, and sat up with a jerk, scanning the room. "What? What is it Heero?"  
  
Heero felt some of his anger vanish only to be replaced with confusion when the woman's voice asked him what was wrong using his name in a strangely familiar voice. He didn't let his hand waver however, and gripped it tighter. A hollow ache began to spread through his chest and Heero growled and shook himself mentally. Why, why did that voice sound familiar?   
  
Heero's eyes became colder when the woman asked again, scooting closer to him. "You're what's wrong, what are you doing in my house?" He asked, a cold frost in his monotone voice. It surprised him when the woman looked at him quizzically, placing her hands on her hips.  
  
"I live here, thank you." She returned with equal force, not even looking concerned that she was at the barrel end of his gun. As if he wasn't confused and surprised enough, the woman lost the hard look on her face to a worried one and reached up to touch his arm. "Heero, are you okay?"  
  
Heero jerked back, the gun still trained on the woman. The pain in his chest was threatening to explode now, still Heero tried to ignore it. He had more important things to worry about. Like for instance what was she doing here, who did she think she was, and how the hell did she know his name? And why did her voice ring like a bell in his head, making his heart hurt even worse than it already was?  
  
The woman looked really surprised now, and brought her hand back to her side self consciously. "Heero?"  
  
"Who *are* you?"  
  
//Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump//  
  
"Heero what are you talking about?"   
  
"Who the hell are you?!" Heero yelled, stepping back even farther till he bumped into the wall. The light switched pressed painfully into his back, but he didn't remove his eyes from the woman looking at him worriedly from the bed. His bed.   
  
//Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dumpba-dump//  
  
"I'm Relena Heero, your wife," the woman whispered, tears spilling over her cheeks from pools of sea blue, willing him silently to tell her what was wrong.   
  
//Ba-dump...........................//  
  
"Re... Relena?" Heero choked, reaching behind his back to hit the switch. Light flooded into the room and the woman before him blinked, pushing a stray strand of gold honey back behind her ear. Heero felt his heart stop as memories of laughter, golden waterfalls, red lips, and sea blue pools flooded his mind as he watched the woman fidget on the bed, chewing her bottom lip nervously. An act he had seen her do thousands of times before. An act he hadn't seen in five years. An act he thought had died with her.  
  
"Heero...?"  
  
Heero felt his knees buckle underneath him and he fell to the floor, staring back at the woman on the bed with confusion. The wife he had lost five long years ago had come back. Ridiculous questions and thoughts swirled around his head but only one stuck.  
  
His wife wasn't dead.  
  
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End of Chapter Two  
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Notes: Buwahahahahaha!!! Yet another cliff hanger!! Teehehehehehe!!! Gomen, gomen I'll get the next chapter out real soon. Well jya! And don't forget to review!! ^.~  



	3. Unwanted information.

Disclaimers: Don't own it, want it (with of course a billion dollars) but'll never have it.  
  
Authors Notes: I really must be getting bad or something, I had 30 reviews on chapter one but only 16 on chapter two. Did it all of the sudden suck or something? ::sigh:: NEway, here's chapter three. Couple of things: I know that Hilde is always said not to have any parents just like Duo, but in this one she does okay? It just helps get rid of those Maxwell brats while the adults have all of the fun! ^_~ Second, I know Heero seems way OOC, but I have to point out that this happens eight years after the show ends. People change and stay the same at the same time. Heero lost his wife, lived without her for five years, blames himself the whole time for her death, and one day walks in his house to find his "dead" wife alive and thinking he lost his marbles. I think that's enough to push anyone to the edge, don't you? So sorry if he does seem OOC (I will try to keep most of his character in tact) but he's gonna bend k?? Third, I don't know Relena's real birthday except that she was born AC180. If anyone does know please tell me so that I can fix it! And finally, thank you all who reviewed lately. It has really gotten me out of a little pit I seem to keep digging myself into. Chapter four will be out as soon as I can find a computer to type it on, so till then, jya!!! ^.~  
  
PS. Gomen that these last chapters have been going so slow, the next ones won't be all emotions but Heero and gang kicking butt and hopefully some humor. Okay? ^_~ Buh bye!!  
  
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Never Let Go: Chapter Three  
By Jadet  
Copyright 00' by Jadet  
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Relena was confused to say the least. She didn't know why her husband was acting like this. Usually when he came home from his missions he was silent yes, going over every thing he did during the mission in his head, and would normally just ignore her for about an hour. But nothing like this. He seemed to be acting almost like he had seen a ghost. He also looked like was trying to control himself a few times but he kept looking back at her and the shaking would worsen. He had only been gone two days though, not even enough time to lose her scent. What in the world had happened while he was gone to make him act like this?  
  
Relena frowned worriedly when a thought popped into her head. What if he had gotten hit on the head, or hurt while he was gone?   
  
Worry began to knaw at her heart, and without another thought to why he was acting this way, she scooted off the bed and ran over to him, kneeling by his side. Reaching a hand out, Relena began to tenderly probe his arms and chest for injuries. Not finding any except for a few on the palms of his hands, she bit her bottom lip thoughtfully and began to probe his head lightly, pushing his wild chocolate hair aside. Why was he acting like this? He didn't look hurt.  
  
Heero trembled slightly under her gentle ministrations, ashamed that he was letting himself look so weak. His mind kept yelling at his body to stand up and demand answers, but his body wouldn't listen, it was too busy trying to calm down his racing heart. His heart just didn't want to however, and beat painfully when Relena, not satisfied after looking at his head, lowered her head to look into his eyes, a searching look in her sea blue depths. Memories once again flooded his mind, memories of sights and smells he thought he had buried with her.  
  
Heero growled inwardly and shook himself. This just couldn't be real. She was dead, DEAD. The dead just didn't show up on the anniversaries of their deaths as if nothing had happened. They left their loved ones behind to suffer without them, to feel the loneliness and pain that followed their departure. They just didn't show up after five years of being dead, like a flower popping back up after the winter snow had melted.   
  
Yet here she was, kneeling by his side with a worried expression on her face, looking no different than the day he left five years ago.   
  
That should have been impossible. Relena was buried under a tree right on his property, not looking back at him from tear glazed worried eyes that still held the love for him and only him. He knew death, having been there himself a few times and sending others to meet it. And death didn't just let one of it's victims go out of the blue years later without a tell tale mark or scratch on them. Which should have meant this wasn't really Relena. But...   
  
Heero focused for the first time in five minutes. But it had to be. She was everything he remembered, even the little dimple in her left cheek when she chewed on her lip nervously.   
  
Heero stood up abruptly, clenching his fists at his side, leaving his gun at his feet. Relena followed him up and took a step back, wringing her hands nervously in front of her. Surprisingly it was that that helped him clear his mind. Stepping forward, Heero reached out a tentative hand to her cheek, expecting his hand to pass through her or to feel something cold or even to wake up. Instead his fingers tips touched warm silk and Heero couldn't help but widen his eyes in amazement.  
  
"You're alive," he whispered in awe, caressing her cheek lightly.   
  
Relena was too shocked by the look in his eyes to really pay attention to what he was saying. She had never seen such raw pain in anyone's eyes before. Nor had she seen so much fear, hope, and doubt. An oldness came to his eyes then and Relena couldn't help but tremble slightly under his touch. That look, it was of someone who had experienced too much and wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. What had happened while he was out with Duo? An urge to suddenly wrap her arms around him and comfort him overwhelmed her but stopped when Heero's hand froze on her cheek, more doubt filling his eyes. Realizing he had taken her shivering the wrong was, she hurriedly placed one hand on his and the other on his chest, letting out a sigh when she felt his heart beat comfortably under her hand. She wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but she wasn't going to leave him alone now. Something must have gone wrong while he was gone, something terrible.  
  
"Heero, what's wrong?"  
  
Heero frowned but did not remove his hand from her touch. "You're dead."  
  
Relena crinkled up her nose. "No I'm not, I'm very much alive," Relena retorted and removed her hand from his chest to lay it on his forehead, frowning thoughtfully. Nope, cool as a cucumber. "Did something happen during your mission?"  
  
Heero raised an eyebrow. Mission? What mission? He hadn't had a mission for over a year, not that she knew that of course, but what mission was she talking about?   
  
Relena looked perplexed. "Don't tell me you were gone two days with Duo fooling around!"  
  
Duo? What did Duo have to do with... Heero frowned then when everything fell into place. He and Duo had left for a special mission to a foreign base five years ago, he had left her here and when he came home two days later he had been told she had been killed the day before. Or supposedly she had. She had drowned in the lake to the left of their house. A simple mistake really, was ice skating and skated over a thin patch of ice. No one could have heard her scream for help, and in freezing water quickly went down. They had found her body, or what they thought was her, a week later, fish eaten and frozen beyond all hope. If he had been here he would have been able to save her, but that wasn't true now was it? She was standing right next to him, alive and not buried under their tree. It did make a weird sort of sense, someone could have kidnapped her and placed a look alike body in the lake in her clothes, making it look like she drowned. No one would have had the thought or right state of mind to check. But why then didn't Relena remember any of the last five years?   
  
Frowning determinedly, Heero grabbed hold of her hand and dragged her out of the room and down the stairs.   
  
Relena stumbled behind him, trying to keep up. "Heero, what are you doing?" Heero ignored her and walked to the front door, opening it forcefully. Relena's eyes widened when he realized what he was about to do. "Heero! Are you crazy?! It's 15 degrees outside, this is no time to be going for a walk!"  
  
Heero turned for a second to gather their snow shoes and forcefully began to put hers on. "Just trust me." Done with hers he turned to do his own. Relena opened her mouth to reply but the look in his eyes stopped her. They were filled with determination and his normal cold steel, but behind that she could see the hope and doubt eating at him. This was important to him for some strange reason, and she was never one to deny him anything.  
  
Relena nodded mutely. "I trust you."  
  
"Hn."  
  
Making sure she had another jacket on, Heero led them outside into the swirling snow, their breaths steaming. Relena grasped his hand tighter and Heero smiled in spite of himself. They quickly made their way through the snow towards his destination.  
  
Relena shivered from the cold in spite of the coats she had on and looked curiously around. Her eyes caught sight of his car then and a deep confusion worked it's way into her stomach. Where was his black truck? For as long as they had been married he had always had a comfy black truck that they used all the time for everything. Now in its place stood a red jaguar. Relena furrowed her eyebrows and tugged on Heero's hand.  
  
"Heero?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"When did you get that car?"  
  
Heero turned to look and frowned before leading them on. "Two years ago."  
  
Relena narrowed her eyes. Two years ago? How could that be? Wouldn't she have known if he had gotten that car? A bad feeling replaced the confused one. Something wasn't right. Except when he went on his missions he and Relena were together constantly, enjoying each other and each others company. She would have known if he had gotten a fancy car like that. Relena then shrugged. Heero would explain it all soon she was sure.  
  
They finally reached where he had wanted to go and Relena stared at the large oak with a raised eyebrow. Why would he come here? The oak and the little hill it sat on overlooking their property had a gorgeous view true, but it was so dark she couldn't see anything except Heero in front of her. What was the point of coming here?  
  
"Relena look at that."  
  
Relena turned her gaze from him long enough to see a large stone sitting where they always sat, covered in snow. Almost as if drawn she let go of his hand and kneeled before the stone, brushing snow off it. An angel peeked out from underneath the snow, and without uncovering anymore, Relena knew what it was. She turned to stare at Heero, dread squeezing at her heart.  
  
"Heero this is a tombstone, what is it doing here?" She asked. Heero shook his head.  
  
"Look."  
  
Relena reluctantly nodded her head and turned back to face the angel. She almost felt sorry for it, arms reaching up towards the heavens, wings hanging dejectedly at her sides, as if begging to be let back in. With hesitation Relena uncovered the rest of the tombstone and felt her heart stop in her breast.  
  
"Heero...."  
  
"Relena Peacecraft Yuy, Born July 3rd AC180, Died December 27th AC203, Loved by all people of earth, loved more by her friends, family, and husband. Will be missed," Heero read, crouching beside her in the snow. Running a tender hand over the letters, he looked at her blankly. "You died the day before I got home. If I had been here I could have saved you, but instead I was out on a mission with Duo in Europe. That was five years ago today."  
  
Relena shook her head. What was this, some sort of sick joke? Relena turned to look at Heero and found him looking at her with a serious expression, devoid of any emotion. The perfect solider when the feelings became too much to handle. Relena knew then it wasn't a joke, and turned back towards her grave, mouth gaping.  
  
How... how could this be? She hadn't been gone for five years, dead to the world! She had only gone out to go ice skating this morning and had come back as soon as she was done. She knew it had been two days ago that Heero had kissed her goodbye before getting in the car with Duo, as she knew that it was yesterday that she had baked Heero's favorite cookies, laughing to herself that no matter how much he denied it, the cookies were all gone the next day except for the chocolate stains in his office. She knew they had happened, she could still feel his kiss and still remember the smell of the cookies. It had to have happened!   
  
Yet now everything made sense. When she had come home today everything had been moved around, pictures taken and put in drawers. Her stuff, still out, had been crammed into corners while his stuff overflowed. The car, no longer a black truck. And his eyes. The pain and the haunted look he got whenever he looked at her, his reaction when he saw her. It all made sense.   
  
But if she had been gone for five years, where had she been? She couldn't remember a thing besides what she thought had happened the last two days, except a memory of....  
  
Pain erupted in her head, blinding her when stars burst behind her eyes. Swallowing a scream, Relena fell forward, clutching her head. Vaguely she could hear Heero asking what was wrong, raising in volume when she didn't answer. It wasn't that she didn't want to, but now it seemed as if she was floating outside of her body, watching Heero shake her. Anguish tore at her heart when Heero begged her in a gruff voice not to leave him alone again, not after she had just come back. She didn't, couldn't respond so Heero lifted her effortlessly in his arms and began to run back to their house. Relena followed silently.  
  
As silly as it was, she felt sorry for Heero at the moment. She had caused him so much pain, not meaning to or even knowing she had, and now she was worrying him all over again. He was strong though, he would be okay after all of this, she already knew that. If the roles had been reversed she knew she wouldn't have been able to live without him, but Heero.... Heero was strong in a way that she could never be, always the wall against the wind. Still, Relena thought, she couldn't leave him alone again. She hadn't meant to the first time, she hadn't even known! She just went ice skating on the pond, trying to think of a way to tell Heero that he was going to be a father in about six months, and had come home to find she had been gone five years. It just didn't make sense!  
  
But this wasn't the time to be wondering about everything, she had to reassure her husband.  
  
Relena frowned and forced herself to go back into her body, wincing when the pain came back full force. She felt Heero's arms tighten around her when she winced visibly and smiled in spite of the pain.  
  
"You'll be okay Relena, hold on."  
  
Relena nodded as best she could and struggled to get the words to reassure him from her dry mouth. "I'll... never let... go... of you... Heero...." Blackness then washed over her and Relena thankfully sank into it, away from the pain and the confusion.  
  
  
Heero felt the alien feeling of his throat constricting and kept running toward their cabin, watching as it got closer and closer with every step.   
  
"Neither will I Relena, neither will I." Slamming the door open, Heero ran over the threshold.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Duo yawned loudly and mumbled into his pillow when he saw the clock next to his bedside. "3 a.m. in the morning? Doesn't anyone have the decency to call at decent hours anymore?" Next to him Hilde muttered under her breath and turned on her other side as much as her stomach would allow, taking the covers with her.   
  
Duo yawned again and reached out a sleepy hand to the ringing telephone.  
  
"'Lo?"  
  
"Duo."  
  
Duo rubbed his eyes. "Heero, as much as I love getting phone calls from you, couldn't you have called at a later hour? Like, I don't know, 11...."  
  
"Shut up and listen."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I'm listening...." Yawn.  
  
"I need you to get a hold of everyone for me and get you all over here, even Sally and Hilde, by 10."  
  
Duo blinked and sat up in confusion. "Wha...? Why Heero?"  
  
"...Please Duo."  
  
Duo was too surprised at Heero to object. "Sure... no problem. But why the sudden need to see all of us? And so early in the morning...?"  
  
"I..." Duo raised an eyebrow when Heero cleared his throat nervously before answering. "She's back Duo."  
  
"Who's back?"  
  
"Relena."  
  
Duo could feel his mouth drop open in the darkness, and shook his head in denial. Relena, back? Wasn't that slightly impossible?! But... but if Heero said she was, she had to be! Normally Duo wouldn't believe anything so far fetched, jokers don't fall for their own jokes, but this was Heero. Heero never kidded about these types of things. Heck, Heero never kidded period! So if he said she was back then she was back, right? Right? Duo frowned at the doubt nagging at him.  
  
"Uh... Heero, are you sure? I know yesterday was kinda tough for you 'n all, but usually the dead don't come back to life...."  
  
"She's back Duo."  
  
It was Heero's no nonsense tone of voice that finally convinced Duo. "Okay man, guess we'll see you at 10 huh?"  
  
"Hn." Click.  
  
Duo clumsily placed the phone back in its cradle. Relena? Back from the dead? How? Shaking his head, Duo leaned over his wife and shook her shoulder gently. "Hey Hilde, wake up. We gotta get dressed."  
  
Hilde mumbled into her pillow and looked up sleepily, rubbing her eyes with one hand and covering a yawn with the other. "Why?"  
  
"Heero needs us to get to his house by 10 a.m., so we have to leave soon. Do you think your mom could take the kids?"  
  
Hilde blinked. "I think, but why are we going to go see Heero? Is something wrong?"  
  
Duo shrugged and got out of bed. "Dunno. Could be its a bad thing or it could be a good thing."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"My words exactly."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Doctor!"  
  
"What? I'm busy right now analyzing the patients blood sample and asked not to be disturbed!"  
  
"I know sir, but that's what I came to tell you! The patient, sir, she's gone! The boy too!"  
  
"WHAT?! When did this happen?!"  
  
"I don't know sir, it was just reported a few minutes ago and...."  
  
"I want them FOUND!! Do you hear me? I want them found now!! She can't miss her medication, it could jeopardize everything we've worked for!"  
  
"Ye... yes Doctor."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
End of Chapter Three  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Notes: Okay, FINALLY we are getting somewhere where we get to meet the bad guys!! I wonder what's happening to Relena and who that woman and the boy are??? ^_^ Teeheehee!! Remember, if you don't review and tell me to get my butt in gear, the next part won't be out for awhile!! (I'm lazy, what can I say?) Jya!! ^.~  



	4. Chain reaction.

Disclaimers: Don't own GW or any of it's characters, I just make them dance to my every whim... ::evil gleam works its way into Jadet's eyes:: Dance Wufei, dance! Hehe! Anyway, don't own em' so don't sue me okay?  
  
Authors Notes: Gomen for taking so long, I hit a mental roadblock on how I wanted this dumb thing to end. But Heero-chan blew it up for me so don't worry! ^_~ Ummmmm nothing new to report, just I hope you enjoy this chapter as you have the others, and ask for you to review. Well, here goes! ^.~  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Never Let Go: Chapter 4  
By Jadet  
Copyright 01'  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Something was shining in her eyes.  
  
Relena turned onto her side, pulling the covers over her head. She didn't want to wake up, really she didn't. Because waking up meant morning sickness, and morning sickness meant the morning ritual dash-to-the-bathroom-as-fast-as-you-can dash. Then of course the throwing up, and the bad taste and bad breath, and last but not least the nausea until 11 or so. So she really, really didn't want to wake up. She wanted to sleep....  
  
Aw foo, she was already awake wasn't she?  
  
Relena moaned softly and patted the bed beside her, looking for Heero. Her hand only met air and Relena opened a bleary eye, frowning. It wasn't that late in the morning, Heero should still be beside her, staring at her as was his habit. And she could recall him coming home last night from his mission...  
  
Relena felt all the color drain from her face as the events from last night flooded into her brain, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to block them.   
  
Oh God, had she really been gone five years? It didn't seem possible, it didn't! She had the memories of the last two days, or to her what was the last two days. She could remember the pang of worry as always when Heero drove away with Duo, and the joy she had felt when she felt their son or daughter kick inside her. She could remember every minute of those two days, every single minute. To her no more than those two days had passed. Yet she had just found out that she had in fact been gone the last five years, supposedly _dead_. But that couldn't be possible, she was alive and at this moment, hurting. Her head was pounding something fierce.  
  
Then again it might not have been so bad to be dead, at least then her head wouldn't be feeling like it was getting knocked on by a sledge hammer every few seconds, Relena thought dryly.  
  
Her headache could wait though, she had to have some answers. And knowing Heero, reassure him. Even though to her it had only been two days since she had last seen Heero, to him it had been five years. If the roles were reversed, she wouldn't want him lying around in bed moaning over a dumb headache, but comforting her. And she had to find out what had happened during those years she was gone. How many of her friends had gotten sick, married, or even had children? What had Heero done all those years?   
  
Yup, it was time to wake up and face the music so to speak.  
  
Relena slowly opened her eyes again, squinting against the sun coming through the window. Since she was in their bed she assumed that after passing out last night, Heero carried her here. But where would he be? Leaning up on one elbow, Relena began to scan the room.  
  
She found her husband slouched in a chair close to her bed. He was sleeping from the looks of it since his chest rose and fell rhythmically. His arms were crossed over his chest like his usual stance while his legs were stretched out in front of him. Relena almost giggled when she saw that one of his big toes sticking out of his sock. Making a mental note to patch up his sock, Relena turned her gaze back up to his face. His chin rested on his chest and rose with it as he breathed. He looked relaxed, Relena thought with a smile. With a stray strand of chocolate silk laying on his forehead, and his mouth laying slightly open, he looked more like a child than a man.  
  
It was moments like these that Relena enjoyed the most, when she saw the man instead of the mask. She knew he used his masks to intimidate others and convince them to what he wanted, but she also knew that he used his masks to hide from everyone. It was only at these times that she caught him without the mask, and made her love him even more.  
  
About to get up and wake him, Relena shot back into the bed when the door to their room opened. She almost let out a sigh of relief when she saw Sally poke her head in. She hadn't wanted one of Heero's friends to see her in her pajamas Heero must have changed her in. Especially Duo since she knew he would get a kick out of her teddy bear patterned top and bottom. She'd never hear the end of that!  
  
Sally from her vantage point couldn't see that she was awake, Relena concluded when she smiled slightly and padded over to Heero's chair. Not even glancing at where Relena was watching her curiously, Sally lightly brushed the strand of hair away from Heero's forehead, waking him. Relena expected him to frown at her and was surprised when he instead smiled.  
  
"Sally."  
  
Sally nodded and gave him a smile. "Still watching over her I see. Has she woken yet?"  
  
Heero shook his head. "Not yet. It's been three days Sally."  
  
"I know, she should wake up soon. Don't worry."  
  
Relena contained a gasp of dismay. Three days? She hadn't been asleep three days... had she? Relena frowned thoughtfully. Poor Heero, he must have been worrying this whole time.  
  
Heero nodded and closed his eyes. "Hn."  
  
Sally smiled again and walked quietly over to the closet, withdrawing a blanket. With a practiced gesture, she threw the blanket over him, tucking it securely around him. Before that though, Relena had noticed something strange at the base of one of his wrists. Though she couldn't see it very well, it looked like a faded pink jagged scar of some sort. She wondered absentmindedly how he could have gotten that, but felt that thought and all others flush out of her mind when Sally, after she was done, leaned over and kissed him softly on the forehead. Hot white jealousy shocked Relena when it flowed through her veins. Dread soon followed. Had something happened between those two while she had been gone. Though it was silly and unjustified, Relena became angry. He should be loyal to her dammit!  
  
Before Relena could let out a gasp of outrage, Sally turned and placed a finger against her lips. Nodding to the door, she motioned Relena to follow her. Frowning, Relena nodded and slipped out from under the sheets, quietly following behind Sally. Only after the door was shut behind them did Relena turn a smoldering glare at Sally.  
  
"What was that back there?"  
  
Sally raised an eyebrow. "Good morning to you too." She paused and cocked her head. "What was what?"  
  
"You know what I'm talking about, the kiss!"  
  
Sally's eyes widened for a second before she shook her head and leaned against the banister behind her. "That wasn't what it looked like Relena."  
  
Relena narrowed her eyes. "Then what was it?"  
  
"Did you happen to notice the scars on Heero's wrists?" Sally asked, changing the subject. Relena frowned with annoyance but nodded. Sally glanced behind Relena to the door, a thoughtful look in her eyes. "Did he tell you how came by those scars?" A shake of the head this time. "Then I better start at the beginning."  
  
"As long as I have known Heero, I have always admired his strength and ability to get though anything. At times I wished I was that strong, especially during the Eve Wars, I could have especially used his strength then." Sally smiled slightly but quickly continued when Relena looked like she was about to say something. "Everyone took the news of your death hard, some harder than others. Quatre refused to eat for a while and Duo became very solemn and drawn in. Heero seemed to take it all very well however for the first few days. Besides the outburst when he first found out, he was very quiet and completely like the Heero we used to know years before. It scared us. He got better as the weeks went on, though I kept someone constantly by his side. I had a bad feeling."  
  
Relena frowned when Sally paused, blinking back some tears Relena could tell wanted to break free. Slowly the anger Relena felt earlier faded away and was replaced by apprehension. What had happened?  
  
"It was about two months after your death that Heero finally collapsed inward. We all thought he was doing fine after the first month. He didn't show any signs of trying to do something stupid, and after that first month I stopped having someone play the "babysitters" as Duo called them. By that time my bad feeling had faded until it was only a nagging suspicion until one day when I was going to see him for a check up. He hadn't been eating very much and Quatre had called me to ask if I could see him. I agreed, and while I was driving here, that bad feeling intensified. I almost got here too late."  
  
Sally let a few tears fall and finally looked at Relena for the first time since she had began. "He was surrounded by blood when I found him in your room. He had cut his wrists in an attempt to kill himself and when I came into the room, pointed a gun at me to make me stay away. He had looked exhausted since the day the news of your death came, but he looked dead just then. I had no choice but to wait until he had collapsed before I approached him. We almost lost him, and it took him about two weeks of intense care before he was able to be moved to a normal hospital room. The shock of what he had done overwhelmed everyone, even making Duo cry. It scared us, and everyone has been fretful he would try it again. He hasn't thankfully. Since then Heero has gotten better, but has never been the same." Sally forced a shaky smile and brought a hand up to wipe away the tears that had fallen. "I always thought Heero couldn't be broken or brought to his knees. I boasted to everyone that he and the Gundam pilots couldn't be defeated. But he was broken, not from some outside force but from the inside. Your death killed a part of him that I couldn't heal."  
  
Relena stared at Sally shocked, feeling her own tears slide down her face. Anguish tore at her heart as she let the story sink in. It was her fault. Meant or not, she had hurt him in a way that nothing could heal. It was her fault that he had almost killed himself, that he had been sad all this time. It was all her fault! And she had accused him of being disloyal. Guilt weighed down on her shoulders. If it hadn't been for Sally, he would have died. She was horrible to feel anger against two such wonderful people.  
  
Relena lowered her head, letting her unkept blond hair hide her face. "Thank you, Sally," she whispered.  
  
Sally, composed, shook her head and lifted Relena's chin with her finger. "I should thank you Relena."  
  
Relena widened her eyes in confusion. "Why? I only caused him pain and...."  
  
Sally smiled and shook her head again. "No, you have only given him happiness. I haven't seen him this alive since that day five years ago. By just being alive you have done more than I, or anyone else, could have or has done."  
  
Sally nodded when Relena looked at her questionably. A little weight lifted off Relena's shoulders and she allowed a small smile to settle on her face. "Thank you, for everything."  
  
Sally squeezed her shoulders. "Your welcome."  
  
Relena sighed but straightened when she remembered part of Sally's and Heero's earlier conversation. "Have I really been asleep for three days?"  
  
Sally laughed at the look of embarrassment on Relena's face. "Well actually four, counting today." She laughed again when Relena turned an even darker shade of red.   
  
"I'm sorry to have been so much trouble...."  
  
"Nonsense!" Sally scoffed. "It wasn't your fault, your body needed it. Which reminds me, is it true you can't remember anything of the past five years?"  
  
Relena frowned and tugged on her hair thoughtfully. "I'm not sure, all I remember clearly is...."  
  
"RELENA!"  
  
Relena stopped abruptly when Heero's anguished torn voice bellowed her name. Quickly Relena turned on her heel and ran to the doorknob. She was just about to open it when it was jerked open and Heero stood in the doorway.  
  
He must have thought she had disappeared on him again, Relena concluded when she saw the crazy look in his eyes. It faded slightly when his eyes settled on her standing in front of him, hand outstretched where the doorknob should have been. Without thinking, Relena threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms tightly around his midriff, attempting to reassure herself that he was okay and not the man painted for her in Sally's story. Hesitantly Relena felt Heero wrap stiff arms around her, tightening as well.  
  
Heero buried his face in her hair, smelling her unique and familiar shampoo while trying to reassure himself that she was still here and alive, and calm his racing heart. When he had woken up and found his bed empty, a terror and pain like he had never felt had clutched his heart. He had thought he'd lost her again. But she was okay and with him, he chanted to himself, wrapping his arms tighter around her. And he wouldn't let go ever again.  
  
Sally watched the reunion between the two and shushed her daughter that her husband Wufei had handed her. Promising to tell both of them what was happening, she ushered them away to allow the lovers time to comfort each other.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Relena sat beside Heero in their family room some time later, surrounded on all sides by friends. It had taken them both a good ten minutes to force themselves to let go of the other and calm down enough to their racing hearts. When they were finally calm enough, Relena pulled his head down for a slow, sweet kiss that left much to be desired until one of Duo's three children had run into the two. She had talked a mile a minute to them until Duo found them, grinning sheepishly. At that moment Duo felt like a cad and dragged his daughter away, wishing for the hundredth time that they had dropped the kids off and not taken them with him and Hilde.  
  
The distraction was enough to make Heero frown with determination and grab her hand, yelling at everyone to meet them down in the family room. That had been two hours ago, after countless tears shed and numerous hugs by those happy that she was indeed alive and not dead. Of course, this is excluding the times a few of them had to be revived from a faint....  
  
Relena sighed and leaned back into Heero, clutching his hand tighter as she listened to everyone talk. Heero rubbed a lazy thumb over her hand, and Relena smiled contently and looked at Duo when he called her name.  
  
"So Relena, where were you all these years?" Duo asked, looking around in blankly when everyone became silent and glared at him. "What?"  
  
Hilde sighed and smacked her husband on the back of the head, leaning over her very pregnant stomach. "Baka."  
  
Wufei rolled his eyes when Duo once again asked what he had done. "Maxwell, sometimes your lack of intelligence and tact astounds me."  
  
"All I remember is someone with white hair, green eyes and black skin."  
  
Heero was about to tell everyone to be quiet and drop it when his wife whispered that statement. He looked at her in surprise, placing a mask over his features to hide his anger over her announcement. So someone was behind this whole thing after all. Heero narrowed his eyes. They wouldn't live much longer to boast of it if he had anything to say about it.  
  
"Relena?" Sally asked, her eyes showing their worry.  
  
Everyone quieted and Relena fidgeted nervously under their gazes. "I said all I can remember besides those two days is someone with white hair, green eyes and black skin."  
  
"Are you sure?" Une asked from her place on the couch across from them. Relena closed her eyes and concentrated for a minute before nodding. All the Gundam pilots looked at each other.  
  
Duo frowned and placed an arm around Hilde's shoulders. "Well looks like we get to do some hunting."  
  
Heero nodded, his eyes glinting dangerously. "Hn."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It was cold outside, so cold that any sane human being would be inside sitting by the fire under a pile of blankets. Any sane human would know that it was dangerous to stay outside in such weather, for no one could hear your cry for help should anything happen. Any sane person would take one look at the storm howling and find some place to wait it out.  
  
His orders wouldn't allow him to be sane right now.  
  
The boy trudged through the snow with a deadly calm, moving fast enough so that he kept warm, but slow enough he didn't sweat underneath the sweatshirt and pants he was wearing.  
  
The boy was just four years old, but he knew what to do and how to do it. He would find his target and annihilate him. It would be easy, as his orders indicated. No one would suspect a small boy who should just be learning how to talk full sentences of being an assassin. It should be very simple. Then he could return back to the lab, and they couldn't hurt his mom any more.  
  
The little boy frowned, and pressed a little harder. He was only four but he knew what they were doing to his mommy, and he wouldn't wait until he was "strong enough" to do what they wanted him to do. The more time he spent training, the more they hurt his mommy and the more she cried at night. She kept saying his daddy's name in her sleep too, but never remembered she did so the next morning. His mommy never remembered anything after the bad men made her eat those pills.  
  
But his mommy wouldn't have to eat those pills or cry anymore when he came back and told the master he had finished the job. His mommy would be happy then, and they could go find his daddy. Then he could be like all those kids in the stories his mommy read him, and they could live happily ever after.  
  
He had to finish his mission first though before he could go back to his mommy. And he had to be careful that the bad men wouldn't catch him before he finished his job. They would know he was gone now, and would be hurting his mommy to make her tell where he was. She didn't know though, and maybe if he hurried, they wouldn't hurt her too much before he got back.  
  
The little boy pushed a strand of chocolate colored hair away from his face, and squinted familiar blue eyes against the snow trying to push him back. Just a little bit further, and then he could finish his job and go back to his mommy.  
  
A happy thought crossed his mind.   
  
Maybe he could find his daddy before he went back and rescue his mommy from the master.  
  
Maybe then his daddy could protect them.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
End of Chapter Four  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Remember peoples, don't forget to review!!!! Jya!! ^.~   



	5. Shopping disaster

Disclaimers: Gundam Wing and all its characters are not owned by me, but by the awesome   
creators and Sotsu. Please don't sue.  
  
Authors Notes: Gomen ne for taking so long with this chapter, I HAD intended for it to   
be out a week or so after the last one but for some reason one part just didn't sound   
right no matter what I did. You have NO idea how many times I wrote, rewrote, and   
re-rewrote the dumb thing. Hopefully now it sounds okay. Thank you to everyone that   
has reviewed this story, it means so much to me!! Nothing much else to say but I have   
gotten a few confused emails regarding Duo and Hilde having 3 kids with one in the   
toaster (expression compliments of my teacher). I know I MEANT to say it but when I look back I saw I didn't explain. The oldest is about 4, and two of the kids (1 girl, 1 boy) are twins. They are about 2 years old. Does that help any? I apologize for not   
explaining sooner, but I could've sworn I had! ::shrug:: Oh well, hope this chapter is   
good and hope you enjoy!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Never Let Go: Chapter 5  
By Jadet  
Copyright 01'   
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Come on Heero!"  
  
"No."  
  
"She really needs it Heero."  
  
"I said no."  
  
Relena sighed and watched her husband and Duo debate over whether or not to let her go   
shopping. Usually Relena would be agreeing with Heero since she didn't particularly like shopping for clothes and such. It was such a boring task, and most of the time it took too long for her liking. But then again usually she HAD clothes to wear, and therefore she didn't need any new clothes.   
  
Relena sighed again and looked behind her into Heero and hers closet and winced. It was   
true that Heero hadn't touched herself since the day she had supposedly "died", but   
then again he hadn't tried to defend her stuff against moths and such either. Her   
wardrobe now consisted of a new style. The holey one.  
  
Taking pity on Duo, since she knew how stubborn Heero could be when he was worried, she   
suppressed a laugh. Reaching into the closet, Relena brought out what used to be Heero's favorite dress on her. Turning back around to both men who were now arguing red faced, she stepped between them and faced Heero. Both men stopped arguing and looked down at her startled.  
  
Without offering an explanation, she leaned down a bit and placed her finger in one hole   
and her eye to the other. Wiggling her finger that was right above where her breasts   
would have been, she giggled at Heero's resigned expression.  
  
"All right," Heero turned to glare at Relena. He wanted her to get it straight that he   
wasn't about to let her out of his sight. He would never take that chance again. "But I'm going with you."  
  
Duo grinned at Relena who was struggling to contain her giggles. Slapping a hand on   
Heero's shoulder, he turned and walked out the door calling over his shoulder.  
  
"Thanks Heero! Hilde, Sally, and Dorothy will be ready in about ten minutes!"  
The door closed on Duo's laughter and Heero's growl.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Watching from the bushes, the little boy located his target among the people around the   
house. Shivers raced up and down his spine as he knelt in the snow observing the group.   
Silently he identified each person milling around one large gray van, surprised at all   
the high-ranking Preventor officials in contact with his target.  
  
Frowning, the boy rubbed a small hand over his tattered blue jacket, trying to put some   
heat back into his body. There shouldn't have been so many people. His data only   
informed him that his target lived here alone and stayed in on weekends. He had been   
prepared for that. Not for this though, there were at least 15 other people here besides his target.  
  
The little boy shrugged. No matter, he would still get this done as quickly as possible   
so he could get back to his mommy. There was no doubt in his mind the master would turn   
his anger to her while he waited for him to get back.  
  
Again a little thought nagged at the back of his mind as he slinked through the bushes   
towards the back of the house. Something was familiar about his target, like he had   
seen him somewhere before. Of course his master had shown him a picture of his target   
so that he would recognize him, but the picture had been taken from the back and far   
away. It was his clothes that gave him away, not his face.  
  
Yet his face stuck a chord in the young boy. If he didn't know better, he would have   
sworn that his mommy had once shown him a picture of his daddy. And that man kinda   
looked like his daddy. But that was impossible. His daddy was living far away like the   
master said, and would only come back when he defeated this man 'cause he was scared of   
him. The little boy didn't really believe that of course, his daddy wouldn't be scared   
of anyone. But just the same, the master wouldn't lie too much... would he? The boy   
shook his dead in denialment, sneezing softly into a gloved hand. And anyways, his mommy   
wouldn't have given up the picture so easily to the bad men if that was his daddy's   
picture. His mommy loved his daddy.  
  
The little boy finally reached the back of the house, and with a deft flick of his   
wrist, brought out a screwdriver from a small leather bag on his waist. His data   
showed that this was the easiest way to get in undetected. After a few minutes of   
fiddling with the screws and lock, the boy undid the latch on the ventilation shaft   
outside. It was lucky for him that most of the people were leaving. It would make it   
a lot easier to check out the place before his target got home.  
  
Pulling himself up, he quickly turned and pulled the vent door closed behind him.   
Shrugging off the concern that he knew that man, he turned back around and began to   
familiarize himself with the layout of the house.  
  
He was going to get his mission done fast, then get back to his mommy.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The steady click of her heels on the metal floor were the only sounds in the hallway as the young woman hurried to her office, clutching a folder. Looking down to reassure herself she did in fact have the small folder in her hand with all the documents, the young lab worker raised her head just in time to stop herself from running into her boss. Fear clutched at her heart but she forced herself to smile at the man in front of her. She hid the folder in her jacket. She couldn't let him know she had it. He would know then and her promise would be for naught.  
  
"Good evening sir," the woman stuttered, trying to ignore the piercing glare the man in front of her was analyzing her with.  
  
"Have you located the boy yet?"  
  
"No... no sir, but we're looking. Sam said that he may just be hiding somewhere within   
the compound again like last time, so we're looking in all his favorite places...."  
  
A slap to the face stopped the nervous young woman. She hit the floor hard and skidded   
a few feet before stopping. Whimpering slightly, the woman placed a hand to her cheek.   
Peering out from beneath limp blond hair, the young woman noticed the doctors green eyes   
narrow furiously, and cringed outwardly.  
  
"You idiot, don't you think I haven't already checked those places? I know him better   
than all of you half wits combined!" The doctor sighed and ran a hand through straggly   
white blond hair, a deep frown marring his handsome face. He hated incompetents.   
Glaring at the cowering young woman in front of him, he wondered idly if his father   
would allow him to kill this one too. The pleasure of slowly ebbing the light glowing   
in her would please him considerably. Especially since that bitch decided to escape.   
He hadn't had fun for almost a week now.  
  
Sneering at the woman slowly pulling herself up off the floor, he straightened his white   
jacket. "Have you found out any more information on the location of the woman then?"  
The young woman shook her head timidly, keeping her gaze on the floor and therefore   
missed the look of rage cross the young man's expression. Turning on his heel, the   
doctor left the woman shaking in her lab coat and walked angrily down the hall. Along   
the way he basked in the screams and cries of the experiment subjects his father and him   
had gathered. Placing the stupid woman out of his mind for the moment, he entered a   
room to the far left and began to prepare for his daily workout.  
  
The woman held her breath until the doctor was out of sight before letting it out in a   
rush. Holding a hand against her chest, she tried to calm her racing heart. Tears   
filled her eyes in relief when she reminded herself that he still hadn't found them.   
Miss Relena and her son were still safe.  
  
Using the back of her hand to wipe away the tears, she made the sign of the cross and   
prayed.  
  
'Please lord, keep Miss Relena and Kevin safe.'  
  
Patting her pocket, she made sure she had the folder still and hurried down the hall again, intent on fulfilling her promise and burning the contents.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Her scream echoed throughout the store.  
  
At first when everyone heard it, they thought it was just a child screaming when her   
Mother denied her a pink teddy bear in the window of a toy store. When no following   
screams issued, the listeners considered it maybe a sound from a neighboring store.   
Maybe a television or a radio. But when nothing else followed the sound but silence the   
listeners began to get worried. Who would scream like that? Should they be worried   
that they too would be screaming in such horror in a few moments?  
  
Heero was the first one to put two and two together.  
  
Everyone followed suit when they saw Heero jerk out of his seat near the changing room   
and run inside calling Relena's name. Also calling out Relena's name, they followed Heero inside the ladies changing room, ignoring the calls of outrage from the women changing as Heero raced through. When they arrived at the very last stall they found Heero holding a terrified Relena in his arms, a confused look on his face.  
  
Those that knew Heero would immediately wonder what would make him look confused, and   
more of those who knew Relena would wonder why she would throw aside all decorum and   
scream bloody murder.   
  
They were answered as soon as they heard Relena's sob as she cried into her husbands   
chest.  
  
"Her baby is gone?" They all echoed, looking at each other.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The little boy sneezed again and curled into a tighter ball, trying to warm up. Even   
with an old blanket he had found in what he had concluded was his target's room, he   
couldn't get warm. Burrowing his head deeper into the crook of his arm, he willed the   
pain in his head go away. It didn't comply and the boy let out a small sob.  
  
Sniveling, the little boy brought out a small watch and glanced at the time. They had   
been gone two hours all ready and it was all ready eight o'clock at night. How much   
more time would they be gone? He wanted to get this done so he could go to his mommy.   
Something was wrong with him, he felt funny.  
  
Putting back the watch, he pulled the blanket closer around him and closed his eyes. He   
wondered absentmindedly if his target was as mean as he looked or if he was just like   
his mommy said his daddy was. Scary only on the outside but soft and gooey on the   
inside.  
  
He fell asleep a minute later, dreaming of his mommy's sweet voice singing to him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
End of Chapter Five  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Hoped you liked it and don't forget to review!!! ^.~  



	6. Family Reunions

Disclaimers: Oh my gosh, do I SOOOOO own Gundam Wing. I'm also a billionaire, gorgeous beyond belief, and the Queen of Heero Land where all the men love me and look exactly like Heero-chan. Did I mention I'm also the only woman in Heero Land? (Seriously tho, if you haven't guessed by my very sarcastic tone [which please say you have so that I can say the human race isn't doomed] then I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters. I do own Heero Land tho, and it's the happiest place on earth. Just beware the detonation buttons placed everywhere!)  
  
Authors Notes: Okay, I know all of you who like this story want to kill me and I agree with you, but did you seriously want something that sounded like garbage? For three months now I have been in what you could call GW-withdrawal. I could not, for the life of me, write something that sounded like GW characters! I lost sight of who Relena, Duo, Hilde were. Even who Heero-chan was! When I went to put chapter 6 up about two weeks ago I discovered that I wasn't reading GW but something entirely different. I was reading "Mental Wing", a fanfiction about everyone having a midlife crisis in their 20's. One in their 4's too. It did NOT sound anything like what Heero would have said or done. I had taken their names and looks but inserted a different, and thouroughly despicable weak person. I hated it so much that without even trying to change the tainted thing I threw it away. And let me tell you I NEVER do that. I always keep stories I don't like so that later I can go back and make them into something I DO like. This time I didn't even try to. After that I refused to watch any other anime than GW and didn't read anything else but GW fics. By doing this I remembered and embraced the real cast of GW, and not too late hopefully. I hope that you will still be interested enough to read this and not kill me before I finish this series (which will not be long in coming. I finally know how this is going to end, yay!). Now please enjoy this and feel free to lecture me on how stupid I was. I deserve it. Thanks.  
  
PS: Since I WAS such a butt getting this out really late, this chapter will be alot longer than the others (about 2 chapters worth of info). For a warning, time goes back for one short section and you can tell by these signs: // Hope you enjoy it!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Never Let Go: Chapter 6  
By Jadet  
Copyright 01'  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
The night's icy fingers weaved their way through the gray sky during their daily journey to cloak the moon. Though it hadn't snowed all day, soft white flakes began to dance on their way down to join the quilted ground below. A golden moon viewed all of this atop his throne of thick gray clouds, imperiously smirking at the van pushing blindly through the snow. Just to make things a little more interesting, the moon willed the wind, a playful thing, to tease the van on the slick roads. It obliged happily and taunted the van on each side, making sure to throw the snow directly in their faces. The moon almost laughed when it saw the van's puny attempts to ward off the snow but stopped when it reflected off unshed tears. Almost immediately the wind stopped playing and the moon gazed sadly down at the woman behind the glass shield. She sat as proudly as she could, her hands folded in her lap. Though she didn't cry, she didn't make any attempts to remove the glassy surface on her once warm azure eyes that were filled with pain. Behind her in the van the moon saw others with similar expressions on their faces. Except one. The man driving the van that dared the snow had eyes of ice. Ice that would not soften but only hardened into stormy blue rocks. The moon shuddered and hid behind a fat gray cloud. It did not want to be around when that man found whoever or whatever was making his eyes so cold.  
  
Relena held herself as straight as she could muster and clutched her hands together and tried to regain her composure. After her outburst in the department store they had purchased the items she had only moments before liked but had no desire to now, and quickly left from the store. The stares of all the women in the dressing room followed her even now, and Relena forced herself not to blush with mortification. The fact that Heero, after paying, had stalked out of the store with all the bags under his arms and leaving an emotionally distressed Relena to Sally, Catherine, Hilde, and Une was even worse. Was he so disgusted with her now that he didn't want to be around her?  
  
She sniffled softly and missed the gaze Heero shot in her direction. How could she have been so stupid? Of course she wouldn't be pregnant still. She had been gone, or 'dead', for five years! Obviously she wouldn't have been pregnant for all of this time. She would have had their child about six months after her 'death'.  
  
That thought still didn't take away the sting from realizing she had lost her child a little over four years ago. Actually sting was an understatement. Her heart was crumbling under her internal tears that she refused to shed. Truthfully all she wanted to do was curl up in a fetal position and sob. But she didn't allow herself the luxury. Instead she beat herself up inwardly. How could she have just only now realized that she wasn't pregnant? Shouldn't she have guessed or known with her fashionably late motherly instinct that she wasn't?  
  
Relena bit her lip and gripped her hands tighter. I guess I just got used to the thought that I was pregnant, she thought. That made sense in a weird, pathetic way. To her it hadn't been more than a week since Heero had left on his mission with Duo. Her mind knew that it had been five years, but so far her heart hadn't admitted to it. Nothing had changed in her mind. Heero was still as handsome and silent as she loved him to be, her friends acted just the same, her house looked reasonably the same. Nothing had really changed. Yet everything had changed. Heero wasn't the same man she had married -oh god she thought as she added the five years she was gone- eleven years ago. He had changed. His eyes were darker, his mood more like a deep well that hid rage until the right moment. He was more protective of her too, which she didn't think could have been possible. Her friends had changed too. They got married, had children, made themselves lives that would support and nourish them. Even her house had changed from the haven she and Heero built together into a fortress that Heero had locked himself inside of. Things had changed. Yet even as she knew this mentally, her heart rebelled against the idea. And that is why she thought she was still pregnant. Her mind knew what her heart refused to acknowledge, and her heart had been the one to tell her these last few days that she still was pregnant.  
  
But the blood from her monthly had awakened her painfully from her dream world.  
  
Relena glanced up from where she had been staring out the window when Heero pulled into their driveway. The other women in the car unbuckled silently and exited the van, clutching their new wardrobes in their arms. Relena and Heero sat still in the car, watching the others walk up the steps and are swept up into their respective husband's arms. Relena wished Heero would do that, sweep her into his arms that is. She desperately needed his strength right now because she knew it was only her experience as a foreign minister and a former princess that was keeping her wall of discipline up.  
  
"When?" Heero's gruff voice broke the uneasy silence, and Relena sighed mentally. She lowered her eyes to her lap and watched herself clutch them tighter together. She didn't have to ask what he meant when he asked when, she knew.  
  
"About my second month. I was three months when I disappeared."  
  
She could feel Heero's eyes close in his silent pain and heard him run a hand through his stubborn chocolate locks. The tears she had been holding back so well until now began to clamor more fiercely to be released. She fought them back with an inward growl. No!  
  
Heero grunted and turned to face Relena, who by his observation, was finding great interest in how many ways she could fold and unfold the material of her pant leg. He felt an almost sad smile twitch at his lips but he forced it aside. Reaching out a hand, he tilted her chin up so that he could look her in the eye and felt a grim satisfaction that she could control herself this well. Most women he knew would have been having a breakdown right now and crying hysterically. Hell, most women would have swooned. Not his Relena though. Heero did allow a smile to curl his lips then. His Relena, yes, she was his once more and he would never let go of her again.  
  
"Did anyone else know?" Heero murmured. Relena gazed up into his beautiful Prussian blue eyes and felt a few tears leak past her carefully constructed wall but shook her head. Relena was amazed to see a soft smile cross Heero's lips as he brushed a gentle thumb over her cheek to wipe away her tears. "Shhh, don't worry Relena. I'll protect you and I'll find whoever did this, I promise."  
  
Relena nodded and leaned in when Heero did and felt her lips touch his. Relena allowed herself to cling to the kiss in desperation and let some of the fear she had been stroking settle onto Heero. He welcomed it and sent back some of his strength. A small smile settled on her lips as she deepened the sweet kiss into something more passionate. Heero would fix everything, she knew it. He promised.  
  
That thought still didn't stop the agony in her heart however.  
  
They both pulled back at the same time and Relena found Heero had kept her cheek cupped in his palm the whole time. She leaned into it with a sad smile.  
  
"Thank you, Heero."  
  
A light tap on Heero's window brought both of them out of the trance and made them turn to find Duo grinning at them. Heero scowled slightly but it couldn't hide the slight smile on his face. Opening the door so that Duo could talk to them, he reached over and grabbed Relena's small hand in his.  
  
Duo grinned at the look of contentment on his best friends face and beamed at Relena. Heero had literally gone through hell when they all thought she had died. Now that she was back though, maybe Heero would allow himself to start living again. He certainly deserved it. Shaking his head, he cleared his throat. "You two okay?"  
  
The both nodded. Duo allowed the smile to melt off this face and turned to look imploringly at Relena with a small frown. "Is it true?" Was what Hilde suspected right? He asked mentally. He didn't want to say it out loud however. Poor 'Jousan had been through enough these last few days.  
  
Though he didn't show any outward emotion on his face but worry, inside Duo was seething. As a child he had never had any lasting friends. After Solo, Father Maxwell, and Sister Helen all died, he had thought that any person who was his friend would die. He still thought so at times, especially at night when no one could hear his silent sobs. That thought didn't stop him from being extremely possessive when it came to his friends and family though. He was a very possessive man by nature, and although internally he didn't think he was worthy of such joy, that didn't stop him from keeping a tight hold on it. So when other people intervened and hurt his friends, he was instantly furious on their behalf. And if this type of interference wasn't included in that, he didn't know what was. So he was more than angry at whoever dared to hurt his best friends. He was incensed, and as God as his witness, he would do whatever in his power to make it better for them. Not a single thought that had dominated his mind since finding out Relena was alive was shown on his face however. He kept those thoughts to himself. What would people say if they thought that comical, witty, and very dense Duo Maxwell thought murderous thoughts? He knew what they would say, or what they wouldn't say, he thought with a wry smile. It was as certain as the fact that Hilde couldn't cook that they would all run away screaming like chickens with their heads cut off. Wait, that didn't sound right...  
  
Relena nodded and sighed but felt some warmth seep into her hand when Heero squeezed it. She smiled back at him then turned to Duo. "Yes, it came to my knowledge today at the store."  
  
Duo ran a hand through his hair, glad none of his 'interesting' thoughts weren't showing on his face. "Well that's just great. Even more bad news that we didn't need." Leaning back he glanced at the cottage door then back at Heero. "And I hate to be the bearer of even more bad news but a new situation just popped up."  
  
Heero frowned. "What?"   
  
Relena shuddered inwardly at the barely controlled anger in her husband's voice. Yet it was oddly comforting. When Heero was angry, nothing in the world could keep him from fulfilling what he set out to do. That was what they needed to. As much as she hated to admit it, she wasn't going to be much help in this, having no memory of the last five years and all. Relena sighed.  
  
"Well..." Duo scratched his head. "We found a kid hiding in your room with a loaded gun. Kinda sick from the looks of it but we have found out he was sent here to deal away with you Heero. Shut up right after letting that bit out. Don't think he would have even said that if he hadn't been half asleep at the time. Serious little guy." He shrugged, but his piercing violet eyes told the rest of the story. "Don't know much else 'cept that kid does look awfully familiar."  
  
Relena sat up straight and gazed fearfully into Duo's eyes. "You mean...?"  
  
Duo frowned sadly at Relena then turned and stared right at Heero. "I think we could call him mini-Heero."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The little boy was angry. No angry wasn't the right word, he was downright pissed off! In the back of his mind he was glad his mommy couldn't hear his thoughts. She would have boxed his ears for saying the p-word.  
  
Changing position under the heavy blanket a fat blue haired lady gave him, the little boy glared daggers at the man responsible for making him mess up his mission. The Chinese man glared back, holding another little Chinese girl in his arms. The little girl glared at him too but wasn't a match for her father. Her blue eyes looked too pretty.  
  
The little boy sighed and looked longingly at where his gun lay on the table. After he had been found by the grumpy man -sleeping no less! The master was going to beat him for that one- they had taken the gun away from him forcefully. The little boy smirked when he remembered it had taken the grumpy one along with two other men, a spiky haired guy and a blonde, to actually wrestle it away from him. That thought didn't cheer him up too much though. He was still sitting next to a big fire in what he assumed was the family room, surrounded on all sides by his enemy with his gun lying across the room. Not to mention his target was going to come in any time now and see him. The boy sighed again. He really messed up this time.  
  
He knew he was going to die. That much was obvious. All the stories about the man said he was heartless, and the boy trying to kill him probably wouldn't cheer up his mood. The little boy didn't fear death too much, in truth it would be a relief, but it would make his mommy sad. It would make her cry too, and the little boy couldn't stand it when she cried. Oh, he wished he could have found his daddy. If he had, then he could have had his daddy help him get his mommy away from the lab and she would have been happy.  
  
The little boy erased all the wistful thoughts from his head when he heard new voices approaching. One he recognized as the loud guy with the braid that had tried to talk to him after they found him. The other two, a man and a women, sounded familiar. He frowned. No, the woman's sounded familiar. But that couldn't be, it had to be because he felt funny and missed his mommy that the woman's voice sounded familiar.  
  
The braided man entered first, a frown on his face. He glanced over his shoulder and motioned at the people standing behind him. "He's right here."  
  
A sneeze caught the little boy unaware and he missed the entrance of the other two people. When he finally looked up he felt the glare on his face grow hotter. His target was watching him with a surprised look on his face. Idly the boy wondered about the man's reaction but dismissed it as shock from having been so close to death. The little boy began to sneer then turned to look at the woman clutching at the man's arm. He froze and all his training was forgotten as his face drained of color.  
  
"Mama?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Mama?" The room echoed, shock clearly written on their features.  
  
Heero felt like someone had punched him. He was looking at a mirror image of himself that was calling Relena mama. Did that mean…. Fighting to control his shock that was threatening to buckle his knees, he turned to catch Relena's alarmed gaze.  
  
"Mama?" She whispered, a slight tremble in her voice. Her head began to feel light. Mama? She repeated again inwardly. She turned to look at the small boy nestled underneath a blanket who was staring at her in such horror her heart began to ache. Slowly her knees gave out and she slumped to the floor. Heero followed her, his arm around her shoulders, staring at the boy too.  
  
He looked just like what Heero would have looked like at four or five. Exactly. The same Prussian blue eyes, the same wild sun kissed chocolate hair that fell in his eyes. Even his face held the potential of a strong profile Heero had. He looked just like Heero.  
  
The pain that had been nagging at the back of her head all day suddenly exploded and Relena fell forward with a scream, clutching at her head. Chaos immediately issued. She was only vaguely aware of it for the pain that was pounding in her temples was excruciating.  
  
The pictures however, weren't as painful but very disturbing... and terrifying.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
//The day was too fine to stay inside. Relena smiled to herself as she tied up the laces to her skates. As she sat she watched giddily as her breath condensed into thick white clouds as they escaped from her mouth. Giggling to herself, she tied the last knot and stood up with flourish. And since today was too fine to stay inside she would go for a nice skate around the lake.  
  
Humming a random tune, she adjusted the coat around her shoulders and bundled up. She didn't want to catch cold for two reasons. One, it wasn't good for the baby. Two, Relena giggled as she thought it, Heero would pitch a fit if she did. That man worried about everything!  
  
Shaking her head, she felt a smile bloom on her face. A baby. She and Heero were going to have a baby in about 6 months time. Joy blossomed in her heart and Relena laughed happily. What a feeling! She couldn't believe their good fortune. Six years of nothing then boom! Heero was going to be so pleased! Relena laughed again when she thought of what her husband's reaction was going to be. She couldn't help but think that it was a good thing there weren't any more Gundams. Her husband might just be tempted to self detonate in panic!   
  
Stepping onto the ice carefully, she made sure to test her weight before gliding onto the silver surface. Snow lightly fell around her and Relena twirled expertly on the ice, laughing at the feeling of the soft flakes melting on her skin.  
  
She was so happy, and she had no doubt that Heero would be too after the initial shock. How to tell him though without making him start muttering in Japanese? She contemplated this the rest of the hour she skated around the pond. By the end she wasn't any closer to finding a way.  
  
How could she tell him and not freak him out?  
  
Shaking her head, she stepped off the ice and quickly undid her skates. It was the work of a moment to slip them off and put her feet into her favorite snow boots. They were man's boots, Heero's old ones to be exact, but they were warm and scarred and now an indefinable shade of brown. She absolutely loved them.  
  
Walking up the slope toward her cottage she missed the sound of footsteps behind her. Too late she whirled around, warned by a 6th sense she had developed after all these years of living with Heero. The two men didn't back down when she noticed them and reached out to grab her.   
  
Relena turned and darted for the cottage looming in front of her, her hands clutching the skates to her chest. Behind her she could hear the curses of the men trying to follow her but stumbling in the snow. She sent a prayer of thanksgiving that she had learned to identify soft spots in snow.  
  
Trembling with nerves, she reached the steps of the cottage when a hand darted out and grabbed her around the waist. Shrieking, she lashed out with her hands. The skate caught the man's cheek and he let out a howl of fury as it sliced it. The man threw Relena hard into the steps and she gasped for breath when it knocked all the air out of her lungs.  
  
Heero, where are you? Relena screamed in her mind and struggled to get up and into the house. She had to get to a phone, she had to call someone for help, she had to....  
  
The man's fist slammed into the side of her head and Relena stifled a cry. She flew back and cracked her head against the stone steps. Relena caught a quick glimpse of the bloodied face of her attacker before she blacked out.  
  
The man had the whitest hair, like the snow, and the greenest eyes. Green eyes that seemed to shine and emit evil like the devil's.  
  
And black skinned hands.//  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
As soon as Relena screamed and fell forward, Heero grabbed her around the shoulders and called out her name in a rough, shaking voice. "Relena? Relena!"  
  
All around him his friends were screaming at him to find out what had happened. He blocked out their voices and continued to call her name. Underneath his hands Relena trembled and let out a soft whimper. Heero felt his worry and terror increase. He could feel Duo's hands trying to pry him away from her so that Sally could examine her, but didn't understand what they were trying to do. What was wrong with her? Was she dying? That thought terrified Heero and he began to shake her and call her name more forcefully.  
  
Duo finally managed to drag him away and Heero watched what Sally was doing half consciously. He felt like he was floating somewhere else and watching this happen to someone else while his mind chanted: "this isn't happening, this isn't happening!"  
  
"You leave my mommy alone!"   
  
Heero turned to look at the little boy being held by Wufei. The boy was struggling against his captor and crying out his mom's name, tears running down his face. Heero watched himself start to walk towards the boy when he was suddenly jarred back into his body. Someone was watching them.  
  
Heero ran forward just as the little boy got loose from his captor and began to run towards his fallen mother. He grabbed the boy just as the gun fired. Glass shattered and screams erupted as both man and boy tumbled across the room to slam against the wall.  
  
For one person the world ceased to exist and they fell into darkness.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
End of Chapter Six  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Well? How did you like it?? Hehehe, I like where this chapter ended, don't you?? Buwahahahaha!!! Arigatou minna for reading this and don't forget to review!! ^.~   



	7. Unraveling plot

Disclaimers: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of its characters (phooey... tho I DO own my original characters... like Kevin!! ::hugs Kevin:: Isn't he sooooo cute?? ^_^), I'm just writing this story purely for entertainment and to escape the wraith of my best friend who has been giving me not too subtle hints about completing this for over a year... ^_~  
  
Authors Notes: I have returned... to most likely be killed by all of you who have waited patiently ::coughs:: for this chapter to come out. ^_~ Actually, I'm really REALLY sorry for the delay. For the last year, I've found that while my ideas for stories have been coming in with just as much frequency as they have before, anything I have written inevitably always sounds horrible to me. Lately I have been finding myself writing them in my head *late* at night, only to forget what how I worded everything the next morning. And of course if it doesn't sound as good as it did written down... it, um, doesn't stay   
written. So... those is my reasons. ::blushes:: I really do apologize for the VERY long delay in this chapter, hope it was worth it to those that have kept an eye out for it, and hope that any new readers will not be disappointed for taking the time to read this. I am not going to promise the next chapter will be out soon since that seems to jinx me into long periods of writer's block, so I'll just say I AM going to finish this story and FTE if it kills me! Now, onto the story!  
  
PS: A little warning, this first part has a quite a bit of cussing. Gomen, but Oscar's character demands it! Gomen!!   
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~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
Never Let Go: Chapter 7  
By Jadet  
Copyright 02'  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Last time:  
  
Heero ran forward just as the little boy got loose from his captor and began to run towards his fallen mother. He grabbed the boy just as the gun fired. Glass shattered and screams erupted as both man and boy tumbled across the room to slam against the wall.  
  
For one person the world ceased to exist and they fell into darkness.  
  
*************  
  
It was snowing again. Not that that was anything new, but he hated the snow for two reasons. One, it was cold. You couldn't go outside while there was snow and expect to come back inside as anything but a frozen popsicle. The second, and most important, reason: if you had to run like hell, you might as well kiss your ass goodbye. Between the snow dragging your feet down, and the fact any step you take is automatically imprinted for any frickin' Joe to follow, you are pretty much screwed.  
  
Oscar _hated_ it when he was in a position to be screwed.  
  
Running was all he could do at the moment though. This whole day had been really shitty from the start. First, when he thought it couldn't be any worse (and you know how that attitude attracts unpleasantness) returning from three full days of   
searching, his boss had come up with one last spot for him to look for the kid. Of course it had to be out in the middle of nowhere, snowing, and have a tendency to get dark about 4:30 in the afternoon, but Oscar was a professional, he wouldn't complain. Well, not until he was out of hearing range anyway, but hell, that wasn't the point. Then after he was sent off to this god-forsaken little part of this stupid country full of little yellow people, his frickin car had a flat tire about three miles from anything. So he had to wait almost two hours for the dumb asses at the local garage to get their lazy, fat donut asses to where he was to haul him in. What fun. On top of that, when he finally got his damn car back, what do you know, he finds out from a _very_ helpful individual that that stupid cabin he is looking for has _one_ road up to it, and it's a four mile road. That meant he could maybe go up a mile, two at the most, up the dumb road, then hike the damn rest of the way to avoid revealing his presence. At 20 degrees outside and snowing like a frickin blizzard, the two mile hike was _anything_ but fun. Then, to make things worse and better, he _had_ found the kid, and the bitch mother too. But guess what? He also found almost ten other people, five of which he could recognize as the famed Gundam pilots, and which he knew the most dangerous of them was the kid's father. Perfect, just frickin perfect. They had run to _the_ worst possible place for him to "recover" them back. So he had had two choices: try to leave again and call in help, further compensating his and the lab's position, or he could try and shoot the dumb little shit and his mommy and say that they were caught in the cross fire. Guess which one he picked.  
  
So now here he was, running for his life because that dumb Yuy character had the stupid uncanny sense to get the kid out of the way just in time. He had missed. He HATED it when he missed. This had just been the shitty-ist day in the history of shitty days.  
  
Oscar shook his head forcefully. Concentrate, this wasn't the time to be thinking about that. He had to run like hell (remember reason number two?) and his car wasn't going to come to him while he sat there and bitched about the injustices of life. Breath steamed out from his mouth in ragged clouds as he struggled through the knee thick snow, hurrying because he   
knew that his latest luck almost guaranteed them finding him. Pushing aside a large branch, Oscar had just enough time to mutter a foul curse before a mound of snow fell on him, jarred by the movement. It took him longer than he could afford to struggle his way out of the now waist deep snow, and continue to run.   
  
Just like he thought, it was almost ten minutes later, and a whopping twenty feet from that stupid branch, that he found himself face to face with three Gundam pilots. Just as he was reaching for his gun, now very wet from its recent dousing in cold snow, he couldn't but think: God, could he get any more screwed?  
  
The spiky haired one, Trowa Barton if he remembered correctly, proved him wrong when brought up his own gun just as Oscar tried to pull his out. "Don't bother, there isn't anywhere you can go at the moment and we outnumber you."  
  
Oscar scowled but lowered his hand from his waistband, critically eying the three men in front of him. Aside from Trowa, he was facing a braided haired man which he identified as Duo Maxwell, and a very peeved looking Chinese man, which had to be Wufei Chang. The three of them were all panting a little, but Oscar sourly noted, not as hard as he was. He deepened his scowl. Assholes.  
  
"Now that it looks like we have your cooperation, can I ask you something?" Duo called out, fingering his own gun that was resting lightly in his right hand. When all Oscar did was raise an eyebrow, Duo shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but Oscar noted with apprehension that his eyes went almost frigid. "Well, I'm gonna ask anyway. What the hell were you trying to do back there? Wait, scratch that, I know what you were trying to do, but why?"   
  
Oscar also shrugged but couldn't match the look he was receiving. "It's my job, and that's all I have to say to you assholes."  
  
"Well, well, well, are you sure that's all you have to say?" Duo grinned and turned to look at his companions. "Guess then we'll have to use a little 'friendly' persuasion, won't we guys?"   
  
Both Wufei and Trowa nodded, though Wufei also acquired a slightly eager smirk.   
  
Oscar felt himself go stiff and became instantly furious with himself. What the hell was he getting scared about? This wouldn't be any worse than what the Boss would do to him if he came back a failure. In fact, the Boss would probably do even worse to him... and his type of torture was not a pleasant alternative. That thought should have eased some of his fear, but damn if his knees didn't stop trembling a bit. With desperation, Oscar backed up away from them, knowing without looking there was a pit fall right behind him that he had seen right before he had been confronted. All three of his pursuers narrowed their eyes and took a few steps toward him, and Oscar noted that the two that hadn't had their guns trained on him now raised them. With a quick look behind him, Oscar found the pit fall only two steps away. God oh god, please let me make it there before they catch me... I don't want to die, but please don't let them catch me! he chanted in his head, taking one more step back.   
  
"Don't try anything foolish," Wufei called, an annoyed frown decorating his face. As Oscar watched, Wufei narrowed his eyes and surveyed the ground behind him, trying to guess why he was going backwards in a diagonal line. When his eyes widened abruptly, Oscar knew it was time and spoke before Wufei could warn his companions.  
  
"He wants the kid. When I don't report in, the Boss is gonna know he's here. You won't be able to hide for long, and then all of you are going to pay for hiding him."  
  
He took the last step backwards and stifled a shriek when he felt nothing but air. With morbid curiosity, Oscar found himself watching the ground that he had just been standing on fall away in a white blur. It seemed like forever, but in reality he had only been falling for five seconds before his back hit a tree that had been broken in half by the weight of   
the snow a few days before. His back broke and the world turn black even before his body stopped rolling down the incline and came to rest between two rocks.   
  
From their position at the top of the pit fall, Duo, Trowa and Wufei frowned at Oscar's unmoving body. With a sigh, Duo squatted in the snow and leaned an elbow on one of his knees, propping his chin on his hand. Without looking at the others, he muttered a soft "Damn." Wufei nodded at the sentiment before Trowa shook his head.  
  
"Well, we better go down there and get him. Maybe the kid will know who he is," Trowa said. With a resigned sigh, Duo stood up and followed his friends carefully down the steep slope.  
  
"Yeah, lucky us."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
"His name was Oscar Whitman," Kevin announced from his position beside the couch his mommy lay on, pulling the blanket he was given a little more securely around him as he looked down at the broken body of the man in front of him.   
  
They were in the family room now, none of the cabin's inhabitants wishing to be in a room with a broken window and a storm happily coming in the new hole. Right after the attempted shooting it had been chaos for a full minute with children and women screaming to know what had happened, and the men running around trying to figure out the answer to that question. It hadn't been until Heero dragged himself and the little boy up, and told them someone had shot at them, that three of the men grabbed their coats and guns and ran out the door. Heero and Quatre had then moved all the women and children into the next room, boarding up the doors to the receiving room, before coming back to check on everyone.  
  
It had been during that time Kevin had returned to his senses. Between finding his mother in his target's house, being shot at by someone unexpectedly, and then being saved by the man he had been sent to kill, his little four year old mind turned itself off for awhile so he could take it all in. He knew that his condition could have been called shock, but after six months of the intense training the master had put him through, it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. What he could not understand, though, was why. Why did his target, the mean man he had been sent to kill so that he could save his mommy, protect him and his mommy? It didn't make any sense. At first, his initial thought was that his target had set this entire thing up to confuse him into not killing him. But that didn't last long when he found himself watching the blond man, who he found out was actually Quatre Rababa Winner, and the wife of the grumpy Chinese man, Sally, work on getting the bullet out of   
Heero's arm. If he had been sqeamish, the blood, and plopping sound as the bullet was finally pulled loose, would have made him sick. As it was, it convinced him beyond a doubt that this wasn't some elaborate plan to make him lose his objective. So what did that mean? And the more pressing question, why was his mommy here? And why wouldn't she wake up?  
  
Everything had started to make a little sense, though, when the other three men had come back toting the body of the shooter. Almost instantly Kevin had recognized him as Oscar, one of the master's henchmen that had always made fun of him and his mommy. Then the men had all looked at him expectantly, and the little boy put two and two together. The master wanted him and his mommy dead, and his target and his friends didn't. While he didn't understand the reasoning, even though he did disobey orders and run away, that changed everything. If the master wanted him dead, and he no longer had his mommy, then the little boy didn't have to listen to him anymore. He could leave here if he wanted and find his daddy, and his daddy could kick the master's butt. All the had to do was help these people and his former target for awhile, then he and his mommy would be free. With that very important thought in his mind, the little boy had agreed to help them, and he would. At least until his mommy was better and he could take her away from them, anyway. Oh mommy, please wake up....  
  
"So his name's Oscar huh?" Duo said, and Kevin brought back his attention to the conversation at hand. Four of the men were sitting around him at the moment, three of them wearing blankets around their shoulders because of their shivering, the women and children upstairs in bed. His target, no Heero, Kevin amended with a scowl, was sitting behind him on the couch next to his mommy, brushing back the hair from her face as her head rested on his lap. The little boy would have protested if that scene hadn't looked so... right. His mommy was always telling him about his daddy and how nice he was to her, and the way Heero was treating his mommy was like his daddy would. While he didn't appreciate that, his daddy was the only one who had the right to do that, it somehow was just too right to make a big deal about it. So Kevin settled on a glare, unaware that it was the exact copy of the one Heero so frequently used, and turned to look at Duo.  
  
"Yes, he was one of my master's men."  
  
Four pairs of eyebrows shot up at that statement, while another pair lowered over infuriated Prussian eyes.   
  
"Your 'master'?" Duo echoed. Kevin flushed slightly at the slip up and tried to think of another way to say it. After a minute, he shook his head.  
  
"I don't know his name, just that he always told me to call him master."   
  
The spiky haired man, now known as Trowa, frowned and stared intently at Kevin with his one visible eye. "Do you know what this man wants with you or you mom?"  
  
The boy started to shake his head no, but paused for a moment to think. When he finally did nod, the men around him were staring at him with mixed expressions of frustration and anger, though he could tell it wasn't directed totally at him. Kevin turned his head so that he could look at Heero, an inscrutable expression on his face.  
  
"He wants you."  
  
Heero frowned. "What do you mean, he wants me?"  
  
Kevin shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure. I thought he wanted you dead for a long time, since he kept telling me bad stories about you, but I remember him saying something about you being mad at him for mommy and me." Kevin suddenly frowned fiercely, and an sound almost like a growl escaped his lips. "But what do me and my mommy have to do with you? Why does he keep hurting her because of you?" The boy suddenly jumped up, dumping his blanket and breathing furiously. "It's all your fault! Mommy's hurt 'cause of you, and now the master wants to kill me too! It's all your fault!"   
  
Kevin ran from the room abruptly, leaving behind five very confused men. With effort, the other four Gundam pilots tore their eyes away from the doorway the four year old had just run through, and turned to look at Heero. A blank expression adorned Heero's face, and Duo let out a soft curse, thinking that he was going to have to be the one to find the kid. As   
soon as he started to get up however, Heero waved him back down and carefully lowered Relena's head from his lap to the couch.   
  
Quatre watched his friend with a worried expression on his face. Heero had to be really upset, Quatre thought to himself, because he always used those masks whenever he didn't want to deal with his emotions. That being the case, Quatre had to make sure he was all right before he went to confront the son he didn't know he had had until an hour ago.  
  
"Are you okay, Heero?"  
  
Heero turned to glare at his friend, but the heat wasn't behind the infamous 'glare of death', so he settled on a frown instead. "Yeah, watch Relena while I'm gone." Then with a few silent steps, Heero exited after the kid.   
  
The four remaining Gundam pilots looked at each other silently, before Duo broke the gaze to look on the sleeping Relena. Deciding that the situation needed to be lightened up, he looked back at his friends and cracked a grin.  
  
"Hey, where do you think Heero thought she'd go to anyway?" The dirty glares that suddenly replaced the worried ones made Duo grinned wider. "I was just asking...."  
  
Wufei scowled. "Maxwell, you're an idiot."   
  
"Ah, stuff it Wu-man."  
  
Wufei stiffened and his scowl deepened. "In-"  
  
"-Justice," the three other men finished, deadpanned. While Wufei turned various shades of red, Quatre and Trowa shared a smile, and Duo laughed. In the back of their minds they knew that their good humor wouldn't last long, so they enjoyed this brief interlude for as long as they could.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
The bedroom was the best place he could think of to hide. Well, it wasn't really hiding since he could have crawled in a closet or something like that, or even climbed back into the air ducts, but it was the closet thing to that sort of privacy. It was also the farthest room from the stairs and the only empty one, considering the number of women and children in the household. In fact it had been that grumpy man's daughter, the one with the pretty blue eyes, that had pointed out which room he should hide in. He hadn't thanked her before he ran down the hallway, but he hoped she saw the gratefulness in his eyes before she was pulled back into one of the rooms by that Sally lady. So now here he was, sitting in the corner, arms wrapped tight around his bent knees, and his head buried in the space left in his arms.   
  
Why was all of this happening to him? All he wanted to do was to be held by his mommy, feel like the little boy he should be, and be feel _safe_ in her arms. He didn't want to be deadly like he knew he was, or constantly worrying about the next test that the master would put him through, and he certainly didn't want his mommy to be hurt because of that _man_. He just wanted... he wanted his daddy, and his mommy, and... and to have a home that he could come back to, and toys, and a warm bed that was all his.... Was all of that too much to ask?  
  
The boy lifted his head up suddenly when the door to the room opened, spilling light in front of him. Turning his head, he spotted the man that was the cause of all of this, and glared at him with all of his might.   
  
"What do _you_ want?" he growled.   
  
Heero just stood in the doorway, his blank expression stretched tightly across his face. It was amazing, really, how much his son looked like him. And it had to be his son, because besides seeing himself and Relena stamped on the child's features, he could see bits and pieces of his mother, the one that had died so many years ago. He didn't really remember her, he must have been three or four when she died, but he did remember her face. The boy had her cheekbones and chin, and shared her Prussian eyes with him. No, there was no doubt, but it was a little much to take in right now. He had just gotten back Relena four days ago, which was a shock enough, but now he also had a four year old son. Anger tightened the corners of his mouth involuntarily at what both Kevin and Relena had to go through, and because he had missed something that had been his, his right to witness. He had missed the birth of his own son. Heero's eyes narrowed dangerously. The people that did this were going to pay.  
  
Kevin didn't know what Heero was thinking about, but saw the way that he slowly became taunt with anger. He should have been scared, or even annoyed that the man was getting angry at him when it was _his_ fault, but instead all Kevin felt was... safety. He felt safe in that anger, and that didn't make a lick of sense!  
  
His thoughts were drawn back to the present when Heero started striding across the room. Now a little fearful, Kevin involuntarily shrunk back, but for nothing. Heero stopped by the closet that was directly in front of Kevin and opened it up, quickly going through its contents in a methodical way. After a minute, he found what he was looking for, and turned   
back around to Kevin, holding something gently in his hands. What he had in his hands, Kevin couldn't tell. It looked like a long and wide, but thin box shape, almost like a very large book.   
  
Without turning around, Heero flipped the light switch on and barely blinked when the lights flared to life. Kevin blinked rapidly at the dots in his eyes, still trying to glare at Heero with all his worth, but failing as he appeared owlish. Heero had to tamper down a small smirk that wanted to make its way onto his lips, and instead looked down at the object in his hands. He ran a fond hand over the object, stopping briefly to trace something on its cover, before looking back up at the boy. Heero closed the distance between them in two steps, and offered the object to Kevin.  
  
"This might help you understand some things," Heero murmured, waiting patiently for Kevin to reach up and grab it. Kevin took his time, magnified by his mistrust, but finally took hold and pulled it from Heero's hands. Heero quickly retracted his hand and turned away, heading towards the door. He stopped in the doorway, and spoke with his back to Kevin. "We'll be   
downstairs in the family room when you're done." Then without another word, Heero closed the door behind him with a soft click.   
  
Kevin stared hard and long at the door, before lowering his eyes to the object resting on his lap. It was heavier than he had thought it would be, and its length and width covered his whole lap so that it rested uncomfortably on both legs. Frowning, he found what Heero had been tracing before, and traced it himself. It was a heart, with an H and an R in its   
center, obvious by the way the heart's bobs were uneven that it was carved by hand. His curiosity now piqued, Kevin glanced at the door one more time, before opening the cover. And, just like Heero had said, all of his answers stared right back at him.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The room was dark, the only light coming from the many candles placed on every available surface. Their flickering light did nothing but cast the room in waving shadows, enhancing the dark spots in the room. Because the occupant didn't enjoy the light, or visitors, the air inside the room was musty with dust, medicine, and approaching death. A machine clicked almost inaudible in the background near the four poster bed that stood in the middle of the room. The bed, which might have been called beautiful once, was now covered in black drapes, its magnificent carvings hidden by the hanging curtains, and aptly hiding the body that lie in it from view. A hoarse cough could be heard once in awhile, but the main sound that permeated the room was the ragged breathing.  
  
Edward hated this room. He hated what it represented. Most of all, he hated who was in here.  
  
His father needed to stop clinging to life and die already.   
  
Until he did, however, Edward had to play the loving, dutiful son. Hah, what a laugh that was. He couldn't wait for the old goat to die and leave him the lab and the reins to control it. It had been his dream ever since he was eight years old, watching his first experiment on a live test subject. God, the way that woman screamed! He had been trying for that effect ever since, a scream that could make him react like no woman, or man for that matter, could. He hadn't found that perfect scream yet, a mixture between agony, fierce wanting to die and end the torment, and anger that the screamer had to be put   
through that living torture. That scream still haunted his dreams, and year after year, the need to hear it again grew stronger. Maybe if he found someone who could tolerate more pain than the average person, it would acquire the same effect. He even had someone in mind, someone who he could test his theory out on, yet he couldn't try his idea until his father was out of the picture. It was no wonder he wanted the old goat to die. The sooner he did, the sooner Edward could really focus on finding that scream.   
  
His father didn't understand his need for that scream. Sure his father loved inflicting pain, and loved the power surge that came with the act, but he was not obsessed with it. No, he was obsessed with his work and finding the cure for his illness. The illness that would hopefully kill him within the week. Well, a son could always hope anyways.  
  
Edward entered that hated room for what seemed the hundredth time, and he had to fight the claustrophobic feeling that went with it. It took him longer and longer each time he entered the room to put away that fear, to dismiss it, which was why he avoided coming here at all costs. One of these days it wouldn't go away, and then the room would get him, just as it had been trying to do for over five years now. Edward shuddered. He hated this room, and the sooner the old goat died, the sooner he could close it up forever! Then everything would be all right.  
  
Finally the fear subsided, and Edward silently padded his way over to the bed, his eyes adjusting to the almost inexistent light from the candles. His father was propped up against at least a dozen black pillows, his sunken face ghostly white in the darkness. Edward shuddered again, but sat gingerly on the side of the bed and took one of his father's skeletal hands in his own. The cold, dry skin made him want to gag, but he pushed it down and cleared his throat, prepared once again to play the dutiful child.  
  
At the noise, the sunken face turned towards him, and two pairs of bright green eyes clashed, one slightly mocking and scared, the other knowing and delighted at the fear. Flimsy white hair fell over the man's eyes for a second, but then moved when an air current from a fan hit them. Still the two pairs of eyes stared at each other, seeking the others weakness and defending at the same time. At a hidden signal, Edward smiled sweetly and squeezed his father's hand.  
  
"Hello Father, you look much better today. How do you feel?"  
  
The old man also grinned, though his was not as sweet. "I will feel fine once you hurry up and find me that cure."  
  
"Of course Father," Edward soothed, fighting down the urge to shove the old man on the bed and smother him with one of the many pillows. Gods, he was disgusting. "We are even now getting closer to the cure as we speak."  
  
"I'm sure," the old man agreed, not agreeing at all but continuing to keep up the pretense. "And how is my star experiment doing? We should be seeing the results we crave from him very soon, should we not?"  
  
Edward nodded. "Yes Father, the cure for you is practically in our reach now."  
  
"I'm glad. I would like to get back to my experiments," the old man said, then coughed like a dying man hoping for air. Edward waited patiently for it to end, and when it did, he smiled and gently laid the hand back on the bed.   
  
"Of course Father. Once you get better, your lab will be waiting for you. Now I'll leave you to rest, and I will see you tomorrow."  
  
Edward couldn't stand quickly enough, and turned away from his slowly withering father without waiting to hear a reply. He was at the door before the gravelly old voice caught up to him.  
  
"Oh and Edward?"  
  
Edward partially turned, fighting back the urge to surge through the doors and into freedom.   
"Yes Father?"  
  
"I want to see my star experiment. Bring him to me."  
  
Edward slightly bowed at the waist, his face hidden in the shadows and therefore the panicked looked also hidden.  
  
"Yes father."  
  
He got out the room none too soon in his opinion, and stood by the now closed door gulping air. The panic was eating at him, but the room was doing even more. It was slowly killing him. He had to get away from it.  
  
Edward turned and walked quickly from his father's chambers, slowly calming down as the distance between he and it grew. When he finally reached his own chambers, on the opposite side of the complex, he was in control of himself again. Therefore, when he spotted one of his lab attendants standing apprehensively in front of his doors, he only frowned in irritation.  
  
"What is it?" He asked in an annoyed voice, stopping in front of the sweating woman.  
  
The attendant swallowed, and shuffled her feet nervously. "Well doctor, Oscar hasn't checked in yet. In fact, we haven't heard any word from him since he left yesterday."  
  
Edward narrowed his green eyes, and impatiently pushed back his shoulder length white blond hair. "Where was he sent again?"  
  
"Ummm..." the attendant looked at the clip board in her hands, trying to read the writing even though her hands were shaking in terror. "You sent him to look for Kevin at his mother's old place of residence."  
  
Edward quickly weighed that information in his mind, then smiled triumphantly. "That was the cabin in the northern part of Japan correct? Where we took her from?"  
  
The attendant bobbed her head. "Yes sir. It's the cabin she and Kevin's father lived in before you... uh... acquired her."  
  
Edward was no longer listening to her, a twisted smile alighting his face. So he ran to Yuy huh? That was perfect! Now he could kill three birds with one stone, a lot of chains, and his tools. The evil smile widened and Edward threw back his head and laughed in pure delight. Oh Yuy, it was time!  
  
Two doors down, another blond haired lab worker hid behind a door, a hand over her mouth to keep herself from shrieking with terror. Oh no, Miss Relena and Kevin were in trouble. She had to warn them somehow! The young woman gathered up her things and slipped out of the door, unnoticed. She had to warn them, and she had to do it quickly.  
  
Edward's laughter followed her all the way down the hall.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
It was two o'clock in the morning, and the five former Gundam pilots were still up and discussing the current problem. They could no longer stay at the cabin, that much was certain, since what Oscar's last words implied had to be true. When he didn't check in, and lord knew they had searched him thoroughly for a way to communicate before burying him outside, whoever had hired him would know something had happened. And that would lead them straight here to Relena and Kevin. So they now had to find another safe house for the two of them, and still find a way to lure the bad guys here. Duo, Trowa and Wufei were all for Kevin or Relena to play bait, safely of course. Heero and Quatre on the other hand were against it. In fact, Heero was adamant about it. There was no way that he was putting either his wife or son in danger again. They would just have to find another way to lure them here.  
  
It was during these discussions that Kevin made an appearance. Quatre was the first one to spot him coming in, the object of his interest for the last few hours tucked beneath one of his arms. When Quatre's attention shifted, the rest of the Gundam pilots followed his line of sight and also spotted the little boy standing in the doorway. Heero's expression was inscrutable as he searched the boys face.  
  
Kevin ignored the rest of the pilots and headed directly for Heero, an unreadable expression on his face. Had either one of them realized they looked identical just then, both frowning in concentration, messy chocolate hair lying over stern Prussian eyes, they might have tried to change their expressions. As it was, however, only the other four Gundam pilots noticed, and three of the four grinned. The other just deepened his frown, though his interest was piqued.  
  
Kevin stopped right in front of Heero, and looked up at him, a confused frown on his face. With great reluctance, Kevin opened up the object to a certain page, and thrust it into Heero's face.  
  
"Is that you?"  
  
Heero didn't bother examining the wedding picture in the album, but kept his gaze directed on the boy in front of him. He nodded.  
  
Kevin withdrew the book slightly, his face still unreadable. "You're my daddy then, aren't you?"  
  
Again Heero nodded, though this time there was a hint of desperation in his normally blank eyes. Kevin's lip trembled slightly, and he set the photo album gently down before climbing on the chair Heero was seated on and staring intently into his eyes. His own eyes stared back at him, though older and wiser, but still his. That clinched it. Kevin frowned and   
leaned back a little to stare reproachfully into his father's eyes.   
  
"You're late coming to get me and mommy, daddy."  
  
Heero only had time to blink before Kevin threw himself at him, wrapping his tiny arms around his neck and crying. Hesitantly, Heero encircled his son in his arms for the first time, then tightened them as the boy's sobbing grew louder. Mixed emotions passed over Heero's face before they settled on a mixture of pain and joy, and Heero gently buried his face in his son's hair. With his long-lost daddy's arms around him, and his daddy's heart beating underneath his hand to prove this was real, Kevin finally felt safe. He had finally found his daddy.  
  
It was two minutes before Kevin's sobs quieted down to the occasional hiccup, and he leaned back to look at his father again. Heero stared back, but this time a slight smile twitched at his lips, softening his face. Kevin smiled back and then dropped his bomb.  
  
"I'll be the bait."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
End of Chapter Seven  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Well, once again, hope it was worth the wait. Jya! ^.~ 


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